Ten government fleets in California's Bay Area will be deploying a total of 90 all-electric vehicles (EVs), with the support of funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and coordination from the Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC).
Sonoma County and the Sonoma County Water Agency alone have purchased 27 vehicles through the program, bringing the county's alt-fuel vehicle fleet total to over 300 (representing 30% of the agencies' cars, vans and light-duty trucks).
‘On the average, with our on-site stationary fuel cell, we are able to operate these vehicles at a fuel cost that is 83 percent lower than a conventionally powered vehicle,’ says Jose Obregon, Sonoma County's director of general services.
Alameda County will receive 26 of the 90 vehicles, increasing the number of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in its fleet to over 50. Other public agencies acquiring EVs include San Francisco, Concord, Santa Rosa, San Jose, Oakland, Fremont and the Marin Municipal Water District.
The breakdown of EVs being deployed through the initiative is as follows: 64 Ford Focus sedans, 23 Nissan LEAF sedans and three Zenith vans. The MTC's support of $2.8 million helped offset the incremental cost of the EVs and charging infrastructure, and the agencies are making up the balance of the overall investment.
