Electric ambulances to be rolled out in East Midlands

Electric vehicles are set to be introduced into East Midlands Ambulance Service's fleet from early 2027.

The service said it would be receiving 33 vehicles, which would be converted into emergency ambulances.

The vehicles will not be introduced at once, but will come into operation "gradually" alongside the existing fleet, it added.

NHS bosses have set a target for all new ambulances to be zero emission by 2030.

The service said the ambulances were being introduced as part of a nationally funded NHS programme.

Leaders said the "measured approach" would allow them to build their knowledge of the technology and understand the support the vehicles would need as they begin using them.

Cara Turton-Chambers, head of sustainability at the service, said the ambulances were a "box van conversion", and would be a "little different" to other ambulances in the East Midlands.

"But they look very similar to some of the ambulances that some of the other services around the UK utilise, so they're not particularly very different on the inside," she said.

The service said in the area it was introducing the electric ambulances, its vehicles averaged 85 miles a day (136.8 km), which was expected to be within range for the electric ambulances.

Turton-Chambers said: "Obviously, we get some information from the manufacturers about what the range can do.

"The way you drive an ambulance often is the exact opposite of the way you'd be told to drive a vehicle if you wanted to maximise the range.

"And so we're still in a testing phase to really understand and get a real grip on exactly what we think the range is and how we're going to make sure that they're suitable."

The service said it was planning to install rapid charging infrastructure at ambulance stations and hospitals, which could charge vehicles back to full in about 30 minutes.

Turton-Chambers added the vehicles would be charged up in "natural breaks" which occur in a day.

"This is a really slow transition," she said.

"We're adding more vehicles, rather than taking any diesel vehicles off the road at the moment, and really testing those in in working conditions to understand exactly how they work, where they work and the places that we don't think they're going to work yet."

The service said there would be "really clear guidance" to ensure vehicles do not run out of charge on the way to the hospital.

"That's really a never-event scenario that we're planning in a lot of detail to make sure it doesn't happen," Turton-Chambers said.

"In the same way that there would be with diesel, if you're about to run out of petrol, we're not going to send you to try and attend a patient having a heart attack if you're going to run out of fuel on the way."

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