Governing Body Approves Purchase of Electric Vehicles
17 Fleet Vehicles to Be Replaced, Six Publicly-Accessible Charging Stations Installed
On Wednesday night, the Santa Fe Governing Body approved the purchase of 17 new electric vehicles. These will replace vehicles across five departments, helping the City of Santa Fe reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and accomplish one of its strategies established in the Sustainable Santa Fe 25-Year Plan, approved by City Council in 2018: to transition its administrative fleet to hybrid or electric. The vehicles are expected to be delivered by the end of June.
Most of the vehicles will be 100% electric Nissan Leaf Pluses, which offer a 226-mile range. One vehicle is a Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which offers more cargo space. The purchase greatly expands the size of the City’s electric fleet, which currently includes four 100% electric vehicles and three plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The purchase is made possible with a $750,000 capital outlay grant from the 2020 New Mexico Legislature. The City also received a $26,303 grant from the New Mexico Environment Department to install three electric vehicle charging stations in its parking garages for public use. With these grants combined, the City will install four electric vehicle charging stations at the Railyard Garage, one at the Sandoval Garage, and one at the Convention Center Parking Garage. This accomplishes another strategy outlined in the 25-Year Plan: to deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure for public use.
“Last night the City took another step forward as a leader in combatting climate change. Thanks to our partners at the State, we’ll be transitioning our fleet to electric vehicles and establishing charging stations that everyone can use. Santa Fe continues to lead the way,” said Mayor Alan Webber.
Although some emissions for electricity still occur at the power plant, these vehicles will produce 70% fewer emissions than those currently in use. As PNM increases the amount of renewable energy in the electric grid as required by the NM Energy Transition Act, electric vehicles will gradually produce less emissions until the grid is entirely renewable, at which point their emissions will be zero. Residents can learn more about City of Santa Fe sustainability initiatives here.
Contact: Neal Denton, Sustainability Officer, (505) 955-2229, nhdenton@santafenm.gov.