The first trailer of SSF salmon to be hauled by the DFDS eHGV. The vehicle's arrival has been five years in the planning and has involved the installation of two 11,000-volt chargers and a converter.

Salmon is inaugural cargo for Shetland's first electric HGV

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Farmed salmon already has a low carbon footprint, but a consignment from Scottish Sea Farms in Shetland had its green credentials improved even further when it was transported in Shetland’s first electric HGV on the lorry's inaugural run this month.

The DFDS electric tractor unit, built by Volvo, is the first to operate in the islands, the first in Scotland and one of just ten in the haulier’s UK-wide fleet.

In an initiative spearheaded by DFDS’ operations manager in Shetland, Bryan Hepburn, the £350,000 vehicle will not just reduce carbon emissions but will make savings on energy, repair and maintenance costs, according to the new edition of Scottish Sea Farms’ staff newsletter, The Source.

Shetland 'uniquely suited'

“Although there were barriers to overcome, especially on price (it is about three times more expensive than a conventional HGV) and creating the necessary infrastructure, I think Shetland is uniquely suited to this kind of transport,” Hepburn told The Source.

“The project has been about five years in the planning and we’ve had to create the environment for the vehicle to live in.

“We’ve put in two high-voltage chargers, one at our base in Lerwick and one in Yell. You typically need 11,000 volts and a converter to deliver power to the vehicle.

“But the mileage and range anxiety associated with electric vehicles is less of an issue in Shetland because of its size. Fully charged, the eHGV can do more than 200 miles, but it’s not going to go off island and you don’t need to plan the journey around where you can stop.

Diesel savings

“We will make savings on diesel, more expensive here than on the mainland, of around £150,000 over five years. It is also remarkable just how much less maintenance we expect this vehicle to need when compared to a traditional diesel unit – for example, an eHGV doesn’t have a clutch assembly, fuel filters, pumps, injectors, turbos, an exhaust system or complex cooling loops. There are, simply, fewer moving parts to go wrong.”

For its first transport of Scottish Sea Farms salmon, the lorry had to cover a distance of less than a mile from the factory to the ferry terminal in Lerwick, with all going according to plan. The eHGV has capacity of 40 tonnes and will be used as part of the 20-strong DFDS fleet in Shetland, carrying Shetland scallops, mussels and wild fish catches, as well as salmon.

A trailer being pulled by Shetland's first eHGV. The vehicle costs three times the price of a diesel one but will save £150,000 in fuel costs over five years.
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