Easthampton, Mass., Mayor Nicole LaChapelle has partnered with MoveEV, a company focused on making electric vehicle adoption accessible and affordable for municipalities and municipal employees, to enable the city to offer its employees an electric vehicle adoption benefit and transition all city-owned vehicles to electric vehicles at the same time.
Easthampton is working to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
The partnership with MoveEV has economic and environmental savings potential for the city of Easthampton and its employees. Collectively, city employees could claim up to $3 million in federal and state incentives and save $900,000 on gasoline annually by switching to EVs.
Swapping out these vehicles for EV alternatives cuts an average of 4.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide (MTCo2) a year per vehicle and collectively could remove 1,500 MTCo2 annually. For the city’s fleet vehicles, the planned transition over the next five to 10 years should save the city $360,000 a year on gasoline alone and will remove 600 MTCo2 annually.
“Electric car by electric car, the city will see a measurable material impact – environmental and financial – while leveraging government and private incentives,” says LaChappelle.
MoveEV’s conversion planning and management software walks employees through the EV adoption process, including calculating the value of switching to an EV; suggesting the right vehicle; monitoring supply, order placement and delivery; installing charging; and filling out incentive paperwork.
The need to pursue sustainable and climate conscious initiatives such as the partnership between Easthampton and MoveEV has been a focus for the Easthampton community since the city council passed a resolution declaring a climate emergency in 2021.