Scotland's first electric HGV starts making trips

Scotland's first electric-powered heavy goods vehicle has started making regular trips delivering whisky.

Chivas Brothers has begun a two-year trial transporting casks between its bottling plant at Kilmalid near Dumbarton to a warehouse in Beith.

The lorry will be able to make the 50-mile round-trip up to five times each day before being recharged overnight.

Making the switch with just one vehicle is expected to save around 150 tonnes of carbon per year.

Some other organisations are also planning to introduce all-electric HGVs this year, including Scottish Forestry for moving timber.

Gordon Buist, production director at Chivas, told BBC Scotland: "We're always trying to look at new ways to go on our journey to net-zero and one of our key emissions is transport.

"This gives us the opportunity to trial a new, innovative approach to electrification of our fleet."

In Scotland, domestic transportation is the area generating the most greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change.

It was responsible for 24% of total emissions in the latest Scottish government figures covering 2020.

The largest proportion comes from cars but around 20% of transport emissions are down to heavy duty trucks and buses.

While barriers exist for electrifying long-distance haulage, companies are increasingly examining the option for shorter journeys.

The Chivas Brothers lorry is being operated by McPherson's Transport of Aberlour whose managing director Martin Brown says there has been significant interest from other companies who are keen to reduce their carbon footprints.

He explained: "What needs to happen is the infrastructure needed to support these vehicles out on the road, to extend their range, has to happen.

"That's something that has to be a major focus.

"We've taken the big, bold step in putting this vehicle on the road and it's quite limited in the range we can do with it because there's nothing to recharge it out on the road."

The HGV will haul around 24 tonnes of full whisky casks on the first leg of its journey, returning to the bottling plant with empty casks.

The pilot project will look at the range, how much time is spent charging and operational safety of the vehicle.

Scottish Forestry will introduce similar vehicles later in the year to run between a saw mill at Lockerbie and a national distribution centre a few miles away at Hangingshaws.

Neil Park from Volvo Trucks Scotland said: "We see battery-electric taking up a large space in the urban and regional distribution sector. When it comes to longer distances we need different alternatives.

"I think once people see the trucks operating in real life and not just on paper, they will quickly gather the confidence that these things can work for them and the technology will fit into their operation."