City Of Atlanta Takes Big Step With Electric Vehicles
The City of Atlanta announced on August 24 it will deploy one of the largest municipal fleets of electric vehicles in the United States by the end of 2015 under legislation approved by the Atlanta City Council. The measure is part of Mayor Kasim Reed’s agenda to ensure that Atlanta is one of the nation’s leading cities for sustainability, and will reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels while saving taxpayers thousands of dollars per year.
The new fleet deployment complements the existing efforts of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability to support electric vehicles such as the recent installation of the first public charging station on Mitchell Street near Atlanta City Hall. The charging station is free and open to the public.
Spearheaded by the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, the new vehicle fleet program is aligned with the City’s Power to Change Plan which seeks to reduce vehicle emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020.
"This is the start of a long-term program to develop policies and programs that will encourage employees, residents and businesses to consider using electric vehicles," said Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. "We are grateful to our partners who helped with the passage of this program, including the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Clean Cities Georgia, NRG eVgo, and Georgia Power’s Electric Transportation Team."
The City of Atlanta developed an innovative financing structure that bundles together all the expenses of purchasing, fueling, and maintaining the electric vehicles into a guaranteed rate that is a lower cost than conventional vehicles. Vision Fleet will utilize its technology and data analytics, and provide operational support designed specifically for reducing the cost of ownership of alternative fuel vehicles.
The City of Atlanta fleet vehicles will include 100 percent electric models, such as the Nissan LEAF, as well as plug-in hybrid models like the Chevrolet Volt and the Ford Fusion Energi. Cars will be distributed throughout the city’s fleet based on the needs of each department.