Highways England has announced a groundbreaking trial as it looks to improve air quality along motorways and major A roads.

The organisation is currently trialling two fully electric powered roadworks vehicles - one across the East Midlands and the other on a major A14 improvement scheme in the East of England.

This inaugural trial will take place over five months and is being funded from the company's £75million ring fenced fund designated for air quality improvements.

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.

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Ryan Wood, Technical Manager for H W Martin (Traffic Management Ltd) said: "These two fully electric vehicles are the first of their kind to be used for roadworks on England's motorway and major A roads. Undertaking these trials will allow us to understand first-hand how the vehicles perform while carrying out different tasks and how current charging infrastructure provides a network for their use. Not only are we understanding the real-world performance of the vehicle but also how our drivers adapt their behaviour. This study allows us to continue moving our industry towards a more sustainable future."

A post-trial report 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.

This project forms part of Highways England's measures to improve air quality, others of which 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.

(CM/JG)