SES charges ahead with EV rollout

As part of a sector-wide pledge to reach carbon net zero by 2030 water companies are having to make big changes to vehicle fleets. Utility Week talks to SES Water’s energy and carbon manager Henrietta Stock, about the progress the company has made so far and the challenges ahead in terms of electrifying HGVs.

SES’ journey to electrification began with a trial with Haven Power, part of the Drax Group, that provided the vehicles, charging infrastructure, maintenance and data feeds as a monthly package.

This includes 12 vehicles and 34 charging points located at head office, treatment sites and across the network.

What are the results of the trial so far?

It has been really successful. The trial has started to change attitudes within the business: three years ago EVs weren’t on the radar at all but now people are asking for their next company vehicle to be electric.

What has the company learnt?

We are now so much more knowledgeable about EVs. One on-going challenge is whether someone could drive an EV or not because of the availability of overnight charging, which makes it more or less suitable. Also, we found that driving styles varied a lot. We had telematic systems to monitor driving styles and found that EVs amplify the effect of driving styles with some getting double the range of other drivers. It depends on the driver and what equipment they might be carrying.

What is the longer-term plan for SES’ fleet?

Our plan is to change every vehicle before 2030. For two-thirds of our fleet we won’t buy a fossil fuel replacement again. There is no obvious alternative for HGVs on the market at the moment but hopefully these will become available in the next few years.

Tesla has brought out some electric HGVs in the US and UPS have some on trial here. Yorkshire Water is trialling a hydrogen HGV so there are going to be options for what is best for that kind of vehicle.

We talk about HGVs as very difficult for having an alternative to, but our use of HGVs is very different to long-distance drivers. We’re likely to be able to adopt an electric equivalent earlier than some of the big haulage firms because we’ve got that charging infrastructure.

Will the fleet be transitioned to electric by 2030?

For two-thirds of the fleet I am confident we will never buy a fossil fuel vehicle again so by 2025 at least two-thirds should be fully electric and in those last five years depending on the HGV technology we will be changing those. By 2030 we will have the fleet decarbonised by then.

When we talk about decarbonisation, we include the fleet of our main contractor Clancy Docwra for the work they do on our behalf so we work with them to make sure their fleet is electrified. As the infrastructure in our area improves it will make it simpler for them.

What has the experience been like for drivers?

When people try the EVs they are happy with them, but charging can cause problems. There is charging available on our sites, but we need better coverage especially for driver who don’t routinely visit sites.

At present there is limited choice for some vehicle types in terms of size, what weight they can take as well as for heavier vehicles.

How do they compare financially to running traditional vehicles?

One of the reasons for looking at electric vehicles as a service from Haven was to see the total monthly cost so we can make an easy comparison, which really helped internally with the decision. It was cost neutral at the start and since then the costs for charging infrastructure and vehicles coming onto the market are coming down. Cost neutral is the worst-case!

What’s in a name?

To capture the imagination of the public, the fleet have been given some truly inspired names including Mo Farah Day, Emma Wattson, Usain Volt, Sherlock Ohms, Carmen Electron, Charge Simpson, Elecy Simmonds, Spark Zuckerberg, Joules Holland, Gillian Amperson, Dane Powers and Stock’s personal favourite from a naming competition, Rosa Sparks.