The Town of Huntsville is considering adding electric vehicles to its fleet, but not until more suitable options are available.
Town staff were asked by members of council to prepare a report regarding options for using electric vehicles within the municipal fleet.
In a report shared with Huntsville’s Operations and Protective Services Committee at its Jan. 29, 2020 meeting, Chris Allen, the Town’s yard and fleet administrator, noted that in the current fleet program a vehicle is used for administrative purposes for the first five years of its 10-year life cycle before moving into the Town’s fleet of work vehicles. Because of that dual purpose, the Town often purchases pickup trucks.
The only all-electric pickup truck currently in development is Tesla’s Cybertruck; other companies have models in the works which are expected to reach the marketplace in 2021.
In addition to the lack of currently available options, the report noted that challenges that should be considered by the Town include the availability of charging locations and service locations, reduced battery life in cold climates, and the higher purchase cost of electric vehicles.
“It is anticipated that over the next 3-5 years, all of these challenges will be lessened due to demand, market exposure, competition, etc.,” noted the staff report. “In an attempt to ensure that the Town of Huntsville is being environmentally responsible when procuring new vehicles, we do ask for specifications on fuel economy as part of the tendering process as well as any ECO options.”
Staff will continue to monitor the availability and compatibility of electric vehicles for future consideration in the municipal fleet.
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What I want to know is how we are going to generate enough power to charge all the cars and trucks if everything goes electric plus the power grid we have now will never transport enough power to charge them all. There is a lot to consider before we get to hung go on electric another thing is how do you heat them in winter an electric motor does not produce a lot of heat. Anyone remember the old V.W.with air cooled motors they had to install gas heaters that didn’t work out to good either. A lot of this stuff may be good in Florida but not very good in Canada.
What are we going to do with all those batteries when all cars go electric?
The wait-and-see approach is the proper one. Competition will certainly lower the array of prices; and more choices will be available. Also, the government should offer a higher subsidy than for cars.
We should take advantage of the trucks always leaving town with a “full tank”
I am glad that they are considering electric options. I hope the provincial parks are too. It kills me every time I see trucks sitting empty and idling (winter and summer). Especially at Arrowhead. I think the statement “The only all-electric pickup truck currently in development is Tesla’s Cybertruck” is incorrect. There are a lot of electric pickup options currently being developed and some of them might be available before the Tesla truck – even this year: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a29890843/full-electric-pickup-trucks/