Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker has announced seven new, all-electric vehicles are being added to the city's fleet this year, replacing older, fuel-burning vehicles and helping to achieve aggressive emission-reduction goals set by Becker.
The mayor says that since 2009, the city has converted a total of 224 light- and heavy-duty vehicles to clean fuels/hybrid power, raising the clean vehicle portion of the total fleet from 2% to 15%.
Currently, Becker says Salt Lake City has completed 12 “tailpipe emissions reduction plans” at the department and division level aimed at continuing to reduce overall emissions. These plans incorporate tailored vehicle-purchasing guidelines, operational best practices and ways to reduce emissions from other types of equipment such as two-stroke engines.
“Our program to carefully assess emissions and local air pollutant impacts, as part of the cost-to-own analysis for fleet purchases, is paying dividends,” comments Becker. “We weigh these factors to produce outcomes that mitigate climate and air quality impacts and save taxpayer resources.’
Furthermore, the city is continuing to build its infrastructure for the growing number of residents who own and drive electric vehicles. Thanks to a recently received grant from the Utah Division of Air Quality, the current six-station system will be expanded to 25 new charging ports citywide.
