Going electric...

Wednesday 30 November 2022

Climate and wildlife

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With both ecological and climate crises unfolding before us, our climate and wildlife blog will explore aspects of this as well as the difference that organisations and individuals can achieve.

Electric van by Sean Webber

Sean's excited about the delivery of our new van...

When the Trust’s old diesel van started to look like it was on its last legs (or wheels), we knew we had to get a zero-emission replacement: enter our new electric van!

As a society, one of the most important steps we need to take to reduce climate-wrecking greenhouse gas emissions is to stop using fossil-fuel powered vehicles. Road traffic is the most significant source of UK transport emissions. To reduce these emissions and meet the national net-zero by 2050 commitment, the UK Government has banned the sale of new cars and vans powered wholly by petrol and diesel by 2030, with the sale of new hybrids banned from 2035.

The most climate-friendly methods of transport are active travel (walking, cycling, etc) and public transport (trains, buses, etc) and we should be adopting and promoting these wherever possible. In addition, we should also be looking to share lifts and reduce unnecessary travel whenever we can. But, of course, these options aren’t always feasible so we also need to make the switch to zero-emissions cars and vans. Electric vehicles (EVs) – particularly pure battery electric vehicles - are by far the best option. In fact, there are no realistic alternatives to EVs.

Electric van by Sean Webber

The lifecycle carbon emissions of a fully electric vehicle, including production and recycling, are estimated to be around one third of a comparable petrol or diesel vehicle and this can be reduced even further as more renewable electricity is used in their manufacture and charging. The Trust uses 100% renewable electricity, so our new van is likely to have even lower relative emissions. EVs are becoming more and more mainstream and have many benefits over dirty old gas-guzzlers: they don’t directly emit any greenhouse gas emissions, they produce less toxic particulate air pollution, they are quieter, less expensive to run and less expensive to maintain.

EVs aren’t perfect and they do still have an environmental impact but, to coin a phrase, “we shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”. Battery technology is improving rapidly and is becoming more sustainable and affordable, with greater ranges and shorter charging times. With these improvements constantly happening, and with EVs becoming more common and more second-hand vehicles becoming available, the initial cost of buying an EV will hopefully begin to drop too. Public charging infrastructure is also becoming more widely available.

To charge our new van we've installed EV charge points at our Lower Smite Farm HQ, including two charge points in the car park for staff and visitors to use. At the moment, these charge points are set to operate at a very slow rate (1.4kw) but we hope to install solar PV panels in the future that will allow faster charging - how much faster will depend on how brightly the sun is shining! The charge points can be used by simply plugging in - no codes or apps are needed.

This is our first electric vehicle but it won’t be our last as we are committed to the transition to zero-emissions vehicles and to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. So far, our new electric van is performing very well: it’s comfortable, drives well and is easy to charge - with no trips to the petrol station needed. It’s set to become a firm favourite for our staff as they travel around the county to work on our nature reserves and help others to support wildlife.

You can find more about electric vehicles and sustainable travel here: