Renault electric models help London’s most polluted area go green

Renault electric vehicles is working with Lambeth Council to help improve the air quality in one of the most polluted areas in London.

The Council has taken delivery of six fully electric Renault Kangoo E-Tech vans, which contribute to its ongoing goal of electrifying 30% of its landscape’s division fleet.

The vans are the first to be purchased by the Council and join an all-electric Renault Zoe E-Tech car, which was introduced into the fleet last year for use by the landscapes department’s tree inspector. The vehicles all replace similarly sized diesel vehicles from another manufacturer and are the first pure-electric Renault vans to be added to the landscape’s division fleet.

As well as enabling Lambeth Council to help achieve its ambitions for a low-emission fleet, as outlined in its five-year Air Quality Action Plan, it chose the Kangoo E-Tech after an initial trial highlighted it to have sufficient range and size for the demands of the operational role.

Lambeth Council will charge its new all-electric Renault vans via 13 new 7kW smart chargers that it has installed across its five maintenance depots located throughout the borough, including at its main site in Archbishops Park.

Robert Presnall, Lambeth landscapes transport manager, said: “As a council that is striving to significantly improve air quality within our borough, we want to lead by example and have a low-emission fleet. For anything under 3.5t, we are now only considering electrified vehicles. The Kangoo E-Tech allows us to continue our focus on our local environment with no impact on our operational effectiveness. When you add in the lower running costs and the fact an electric van can be serviced in minutes, then it’s actually very hard to justify a diesel or petrol van of a similar size.

“The Kangoo E-Tech is perfect for what we need and for the area we operate in. It’s ideal for city traffic, has the space we require and provides a good level of comfort. We’ll certainly consider more Renault E-Tech models, and, with its range and refinement, the new Zoe Van E-Tech looks like it could be a good replacement for some of our diesel vehicles where a big payload isn’t an absolute necessity.”

Commenting on Lambeth Council’s decision to invest in all-electric Renault E-Tech vehicles, Vincent Tourette, managing director at Renault UK, commented: “We are exceptionally pleased that 100% electric Renault E-Tech vehicles are playing a part in helping Lambeth Council to achieve its long-term environmental strategy and make the borough a healthier environment in which to live and work, while also noticeably lowering its fleet operating costs.”