Galway City Council has this week introduced eight fully-electric vans in Phase 1 of the conversion of the its fleet to electric vehicles.
The eight Nissan e-NV200 vans will replace eight diesel vans that were previously used by the council.
They will be used by staff across different sections in the council, from Community Wardens to Housing Maintenance, from next week.
This initiative forms part of the Galway City Council Climate Action Plan, and is part of a drive towards Zero Emission vehicles.
Speaking about the launch, Brendan McGrath, Chief Executive of Galway City Council, said the 2020 Programme for Government has set out an ambitious target to achieve a 51% reduction in Greenhouse Gases by 2030 and ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050.
“One of the key interventions in achieving this is to increase the number of electric vehicles (EV) on our roads, reducing our reliance on fossil fuel energy consumption and greenhouse gases,” he said.
“Galway City Council recognises the vital role the organisation has to play in relation to Climate Change mitigation and adaptation, as part of the Galway City Council Climate Action Plan.
Brendan McGrath said that the deployment of the eight fully-electric vans is the start of the conversion of the City Council fleet, which we look forward to expanding in the coming years.”
Mayor of Galway City, Cllr. Colette Connolly, also welcomed the move towards electric vehicles.
“Local Government plays a key role in the delivery of Ireland’s National Climate Action ambition, Galway City Council is showing our intent and commitment in aiding to achieve these targets by phase 1 of the conversion of City Council fleet to fully-electric vehicles and making our contribution to the national decarbonisation effort,” said the Mayor.
This initiative is fully funded by Galway City Council, with provision made in the 2021 Budget adopted by Council in November last year.
Galway City Council hopes to proceed with Phase 2 in 2022 and continue this initiative and remove more diesel engines from our city streets.