City of Parramatta is in the process of going through a major fleet renewal, as many of the Council’s vehicles have reached or are approaching the three year threshold for turnover. Of the council’s 200 light passenger vehicles, 34% were powered with hybrid drive trains in 2022, and that figure is now up to 50%.
The expectation is that by 2030, all of the vehicles will either be hybrids or EV’s, with a target for 10% to be EVs.
To support this, a few months ago City of Parramatta held a car care workshop and an EV test drive day, where staff from the fleet management team met with other council staff, often for the first time.
Melinda Ta, Group Manager Fleet and Depot Operations at the council, says the two events were a major success, both in terms of fostering organisational culture but also as practical help for staff who accessed vehicles through leaseback arrangements with the council.
“We had ten EVs from different dealerships for three days, and we invited staff who were part of the leaseback scheme who were thinking of renewing their vehicle with an EV to come along and try the cars,” she says.
“It was great to see the staff interest in this initiative,” says Ta.
“Everyone really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it, and the feedback was very positive.”
The two initiatives were part of an intense period of activity for Ta and her fleet team.
They have just been through an extensive consultative process with leaseback drivers and staff, and from that created a new fleet policy which went live in September.
The new policy saw an average drop of 20% in leaseback fees, the introduction of EV options and – for the first time – a procedures document as a supplement to the policy guidelines around usage and vehicle responsibilities.
A cleaning fee was introduced along with further clarification of “at fault accidents.”
“The policy is not just about cost, it’s about driver education and responsibility,” says Ta.
More than 300 people completed the survey and 200 of those offered comments beyond answering the survey questions.
They were asked questions which spanned if they would consider going to an EV, were they satisfied with the range of vehicles being offered, and about their patterns of use and interstate travel.
There were also several face-to-face sessions, emails and phone calls.
“It was a very collaborative process and got everyone thinking about the issues and feeling they were a part of the new policy,” says Ta.
“For us, we were able to hear directly from the staff who were using the vehicles and while council has its own metrics and requirements around fleet, the consultation process gave them some ownership in the development of the policy.”
In the results, 77% said they would consider an EV and 89% said they were happy with the range of vehicles.
“This was a really good basis for us to understand the key issues and then develop a new policy, which will be refreshed every two years,” says Ta.
In preparation for EVs, council is also looking at options to create in-house charging stations at council facilities.
Ta says that with the new policy coinciding with the fleet renewal, there needs to be a strong business case as to why a non-hybrid should be considered.
Her expectation is that by next year, the regular fuel reports will show a major decrease in fuel costs, a view which is based on her own experience. Now driving a hybrid, she says she is filling up every two and a half weeks and getting around 750 kilometres out of a tank of petrol, compared to filling up every week with her previous car with an internal combustion engine.
“There has been a big wait to get hybrid vehicles, however those shortages seem to be over, and we are replacing our fleet more quickly” says Ta.
Melinda Ta will be speaking at the IPWEA Fleet Conference in from 24 – 26 March, Brisbane.
