On June 27 at the Climate Mayors Summit in Honolulu, Hawaii, dozens of mayors took the stage to announce their commitment to purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) in partnership with the Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle (EV) Purchasing Collaborative (the Collaborative). The Collaborative, launched in September 2018, brought together Climate Mayors (a coalition of over 400 US mayors committed to taking meaningful action on climate change), the Electrification Coalition (a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the mass adoption of EVs), and Sourcewell (a government cooperative purchasing agency).
Climate Mayors founder and chair, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; co-chairs Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero; and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell led the announcement in front of a Proterra electric bus featuring the Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative. The commitments by more than 140 cities and counties to purchase over 2,100 EVs have the potential to:
- Cut gas usage by up to 1 million gallons each year
- Transition to 25 million electric miles driven each year
- Add more than $75 million in purchasing power to the electric vehicle market
A list of these commitments is publicly available online and is being updated daily as new commitments come in. These partners will continue to work to engage more cities and counties across the country to go electric.
The commitments by more than 140 cities and counties to purchase over 2,100 EVs have the potential to cut gas usage by up to 1 million gallons each year.
In order to grow the offerings of the Collaborative, the Mayors also announced plans to release a competitive bid on electric school buses by the end of this year, which will enable all electric school bus manufacturers to offer any public school system in the country access to equal, competitive prices. With more than 470,000 school buses operating across the country, lower prices and reduced administrative work will help school systems with smaller budgets provide their students with zero-emission transportation.
Through the online pricing portal, the Collaborative works to reduce the costs and barriers to make it easier for public fleets to go electric. The program provides municipalities and public agencies across the country with equal access to competitively solicited electric vehicles and charging infrastructure contracts- reducing administrative costs for municipal procurement officers. Leasing options that can monetize state and federal tax credits are also now available to fleets across the US regardless of local dealership inventory or existing state policies.
The Collaborative also supplies cities with the expertise and tools to provide fleet electrification technical support. This includes training materials, best practices, educational resources, helping with pre/post-deployment planning and training, and providing industry connections; creating a one-stop shop to support electric vehicle transitions by public fleets.
As your next step, The Electrification Coalition’s director of electric vehicle and smart mobility programs, Natalia Swalnick, encourages individuals to reach out to the Collaborative to let staff know what can be done to help your government agency transition your fleet to include electric vehicles.
