Dundee brought home three big awards in November!

03 December, 2024 | Dundee Electric

After much anticipation, November brought several awards to finalisation. We are now delighted to share that Dundee City Council’s Fleet Section got huge recognition at three awards ceremonies not only by being shortlisted but also being chosen as the winning organisation, three weeks in a row!

At the fifth Electric Vehicle Innovation and Excellence Awards ceremony on the 14th of November, Dundee City Council was awarded the Public Sector Infrastructure of the Year. This award recognises the work that Dundee has done to further the growth of electric vehicles by installing EV infrastructure for depot use.

Dundee City Council’s versatile EV charging infrastructure strategy was carefully developed in consideration of diverse departments’ requirements. The infrastructure strategy is further strengthened by the two latest depot installations at Marchbanks and Clepington Road providing a total of 47 charge points. These depots now incorporate renewable energy solutions which are part of the council’s decarbonisation plan. The solar panels on canopies and on top of the Marchbanks workshop power the electric RCVs and vans housed at these locations. Both sites were also expanded with battery storage unit to ensure that no energy is wasted.

At the Transport and Energy Awards held on the 21st, Dundee City Council’s latest rapid charging hub on Clepington Road was named the Best Accessibility Project. This award recognises Dundee for leading the way in accessibility of EV charging sites, infrastructure and a defined strategy to make accessibility business as usual. The Fourth Hub, also known as the Charging Oasis, features a unique combination of elements improving accessibility for drivers with additional needs. These elements follow the PAS 1899 guidance where possible while also building up on the knowledge and reaching beyond these guidelines. This resulted in an enhanced understanding of what genuine accessibility looks like. The three areas that impact accessibility were recognised and improved: user experience (i.e., visibility and location), the hardware (i.e., the height of the screen) and the space around the charge point (i.e. street clutter). Dundee City Council achnowledges that the hub on Clepington Road is far from perfect, but we hope that this is the start of a more widespread strategy across the country.

A week later, on the 28th, Dundee won the Sustainability Award at the London EV Show for successfully reducing Fleet’s carbon emissions by promoting and implementing sustainable practices. Alongside the electrification of the fleet, Dundee has also put a major focus on fleet management systems that employees continuously build upon. The team has managed to drastically enhance the level of data across vehicle and inventory details such as vehicle specifications, emissions, mileage, repairs and maintenance history. Other initiatives were recognised by this award, such as a GIS routing software to manage the mileage of larger vehicles and vans, the mechanical training in EVs implemented by the Fleet Sector, the introduction of renewable energy and the growing uptake of electric vehicles.

Congratulations to all other nominees and winners!

Testimonials

“I love my new Nissan Leaf… the forward-thinking city council are at the forefront of the whole electric car revolution”

Lorraine Kelly

“Electric taxis always surprise our customers with how quiet they are. The switch from fuel to electricity has saved us thousands – and it’s clean too!”

There are now a total of 187 electric taxis operating in Dundee which is 25% of all taxis operating in the city.

Dundee Taxis

“Electric vehicles have reduced the city’s cO2 levels by 987 tonnes so far (Sept 2017)”

Dundee City Council have 223 electric vehicles (and counting) in their fleet, the biggest of any UK local authority.

Gary McRae, Dundee City Council

“The excellent charging infrastructure in Dundee makes running an electric car very easy. I often plug in to one of the chargers in town, pop to the shops and my Nissan Leaf is fully charged by the time I’m done. I can’t wait to use the charging hubs that are planned across the city. The ability to park for free in the Dundee City Council car parks because my car has zero emissions is an added bonus.”

Elinor, Dundee

“We are now using an electric car since 2012 and will not go back to a petrol car. The drive is smooth, responsive and quiet. With Dundee getting better and better with chargers in several places, free parking in Council car parks, what’s not to like? The car has saved us money compared to the Ford Ka we had before, with currently over 90,000 miles, you can’t tell us it’s not used. Looking forward to the new charging hubs in Dundee.”

Erwin, Alyth

“EVs are over 60% cheaper to refuel than modern petrol and diesel cars and have only 1% of the moving components, so they’re really reliable. There are EVs that have clocked up over 174,000 miles in three years and only needed a ball bearing replaced. Switching to an EV from a 70mpg hybrid and charging it at home has saved me £500 per year on fuel and maintenance alone – double that if I only use Dundee’s free public charge points!”

Euan, Dundee University graduate

“Our two electric vans have completely transformed our business. Not only have they helped reduced our running costs, but they are much better for the environment and work well with the stop start style of driving that we do on our free pick-up and delivery service. The move over to electric vehicles has been extremely easy due to the excellent facilities for charging in the local Dundee area. We are even considering adding a third electric vehicle to our fleet.”

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