New York City to electrify entire municipal fleet by 2040

Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, has signed an ordinance to electrify the city’s entire municipal vehicle fleet by 2040. New York City claims to operate the largest municipal fleet in the United States.

In total, the city’s fleet comprises over 30,000 owned and leased vehicles. As part of the Executive Order, the New York Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and NYC Fleet are to develop a ‘Clean Fleet Transition Plan’ (CFTP).

“To address our climate crisis, New York City needs to stop burning fossil fuels and electrify everything,” said de Blasio. The CFTP, which is to be updated every two years, is to cover the use of alternative fuels and the electrification of city fleets across all required vehicle types. The first CFTP is due to be published on 1 January 2021.

In the USA, the lack of appropriate e-vehicles for special applications is cited as an obstacle to electrification – for example, vehicles for waste management companies or fire engines. Industry experts hope that the New York decision will send a signal – given the potential volume of orders from NYC, exclusive developments and production should be worthwhile for manufacturers.

The city had already announced in 2018 that it would only use electric buses by 2040. The municipal fleet operator NYC Fleet have already established that, with existing Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf, the higher purchase prices would be more than compensated by the savings made from lower operating costs.

greencarcongress.com, chargedevs.com, nyc.gov (executive order as pdf)