Electric roadworks vehicles tested by Highways England

Two fully electric powered roadworks vehicles are being trialled by Highways England.

One of the vehicles is being used across the East Midlands and the other on the A14 in the East of England.

The five-month trial of the electric roadworks vehicles is being funded from the company’s £75 million fund designated for air quality improvements.

Other air quality measures being undertaken from the Highways England include a barrier to be installed alongside the M1 in South Yorkshire to help improve air quality for the local community and installing more electric charge points on or near the motorway network.

Highways England’s Martin Bolt, Corporate Group Leader, Operations Directorate (Midlands) said: "We are actively exploring opportunities to improve air quality for those travelling on or living near our roads as well as reduce exposure for road workers. These vehicles help with that and also reduce noise for nearby residents. We are now investigating how widely electric vehicles could sustainably be used across Highways England’s roads."

Highways England is working with H W Martin (Traffic Management Ltd) to trial the vehicles, which are being used for various tasks including traffic management, maintenance operations, and the installation and removal of lane closures for construction work. Experts from the University of Bath are helping collect and analyse data as part of this scientific trial to determine what activities these new vehicles are best suited to.

The electric traffic management vehicle trial is running between April and August. This will be followed by a post-trial report, the results of which will inform future work around assessing how charging infrastructures are deployed for major projects and looking at the future potential for using electric roadworks vehicles.