New data has shown that ODS electric vehicles have been charged for 7,185 hours over a year, which equals 299 days in total, according to Oxford.
The data, which came from a newly gathered fleet data reporting tool, looked into ODS’ use of vehicle fleet and provided an overview of their use, supporting ODS in planning the fleet’s future.
Currently, ODS has 330 vehicles in its fleet and intends to make a quarter of them electric by 2023.
“The Fleet data project has given and will continue to give an invaluable insight into the fleet’s contribution to Oxford City Council’s carbon emissions. By accurately recording vehicle data we can work alongside ODS to continually improve the impact of the fleet and for the first time actually be able to see the effects in the data in real-time. This is key for us achieving a net Zero Carbon Council by 2030.” says Councillor Nigel Chapman, Cabinet Member for Citizen Focused Services, Oxford City Council.
ODS’ electric vehicle fleet
The £41m ($45m) Energy Superhub Oxford project supported ODS with the purchase and delivery of 40 EVs, which includes an electric refuse collection truck, an excavator, a street sweeper, and different-sized vans.
In April 2020, the City Council had the delivery of its first EVs for the project. In July 2020, Oxford’s first 50kW fast electric charger for ODS’ EV fleet was installed along with 32 fast 22kW chargers.
As part of the work, ODS vehicles come with new data recording devices (telematics), providing ODS with comprehensive fleet usage data. Imperial College London and Kek Tech developed the reporting tool for this.
A few initial findings from between October 2021 to October 2022 found:
- 83,830 kWh of energy were used to charge ODS’ EV fleet
- ODS electric vehicles were charged for 7,185 hours – which equals 299 days
ODS vehicles traveled 1,524,899 miles (2,454,087 km), which is the same distance as traveling from John o’ Groats to Land’s End 2,281 times.
In addition to fleet usage information, the reporting also inspects charge point usage data, fleet maintenance, and fuel usage. This enables ODS to thoroughly evaluate its fleet and ongoing electrification strategy based on costs, emissions, range, suitable electric replacement, and usage.
The initial findings show ODS’ vehicle use, and ODS will continuously monitor their vehicles to assess their future EV purchases and usage.
“Managing a fleet requires full understanding of its performance including usage, fuelling and maintenance. Gathering this data from many different systems can be difficult, but with the new database allowed us to see the data in an easily accessible format while also allowing us to see detailed breakdowns. It is an excellent advancement of our fleet management reporting.” said Owain Pearce, Transport Manager, ODS
Energy Superhub Oxford
Energy Superhub Oxford is an alliance between Oxford City Council and EDF Renewables UK. It includes Invinity Energy Systems, Kensa Contracting, Habitat Energy, and the University of Oxford.
Notably, the project is part of a nationwide Energy Superhubs network developed by EDF Renewables UK, combining transmission-connected batteries and power infrastructure for EV charging to allow more renewables and accelerate transport’s decarbonization.
The Energy Superhub Oxford was announced in April 2019 and got £10m ($11m) from the government’s Prospering from the Energy Revolution Challenge – under which Oxford City Council was awarded £1,615,169 ($1,806,671) for its role in the project.
Supporting a net Zero Carbon Council
ODS greatly supports the City Council’s goal to be a net Zero Carbon Council by 2030.
Additionally, the Council also developed an EV strategy for the city. The strategy addresses how Oxford could best respond to the rising demand for additional charging capacity, the changing technology, and the growing number of delivery models for charging infrastructureimplementation.
The strategy also considers the Council’s role, which includes its assets’ utilization, like carparks and other lands, and whether it could be involved in EV charge points’ delivery working with ODS and commercial operators.
