Planning for the Future: Fleet Electrification as a Carbon and Cost Savings Strategy
One of my service year projects has been supporting fleet electrification planning for the City of Santa Cruz’s Public Works Department. My role has been to research, collate, and analyze information about our fleet to identify a pathway towards total fleet electrification. This included researching background information about fleet electrification, collecting and refining various fleet-related data, and finally conducting a vehicle replacement and timeline analysis as well as a total cost of ownership comparative analysis. With the use of relevant tools, namely the EV Fleet Planning Tool, we have been able to identify over 400 vehicles that are candidates for replacement over a 10 year period. This is supported by the total cost of ownership comparison which demonstrates that upfront investment into fleet infrastructure will lead to long-term savings for the City.
Lastly, working with division leadership in the Public Works Department, we are working towards scoping out further technical analyses to assess our infrastructure capacities and future needs. This project contributes to community resilience by building capacity at the City for total fleet electrification. Electrifying our fleet is a huge opportunity to save money and knock out a large chunk of our greenhouse gas emissions.
Written by Lexi Daoussis, CivicSpark Fellow
