Climate Mayors’ EV Purchasing Collaborative Recruits 127 Cities to Purchase Over 2100 EVs by 2020

Collaborative platform announces plans for new national solicitation to add school buses, new purchases will cut annual gas usage by up to 1 million gallons

HONOLULU, HI – (June 27, 2019) –Today, at the second-annual Climate Mayors Summit in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative (“the Collaborative”) announced that more than 127 cities and 15 counties from across 38 states including the District of Columbia have joined the Collaborative and committed to purchasing more than 2100 electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of 2020.  

By transitioning to EVs, cities are leading by example: helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet, saving taxpayer money, improving public health, and reducing our nation’s dependency on oil. With 127 cities committing to the Collaborative, by the end of 2020 the EV commitments have the potential to:

• Cut gas usage by up to 1 million gallons each year;

• Transition to electric up to 25 million miles driven each year; and

• Add more than $75 million in purchasing power to the electric vehicle market[1].

As part of Climate Mayors’ commitment to grow participation and offerings in the Collaborative, its procurement partner, Sourcewell, will be releasing a new national solicitation for electric school buses by the end of the year, enabling all electric school bus manufacturers to participate and become readily available for any public school system to access at competitive prices. The Collaborative will continue to expand in the future, including to transit buses and other vehicle types. With more than 470,000 school buses operating across the country, transitioning to electric school buses creates a big opportunity to make it easier for school children across the U.S. to travel on a zero-emission bus.

“Expanding the use of electric vehicles in cities and states is not just good for the environment – it’s good for local economies and the health of residents,” said Climate Mayors’ Founder and Co-Chair Eric Garcetti. “In Los Angeles, moving our fleet away from fossil-fuels to electric has led to lower costs for maintenance, operation, and fueling, all while improving air quality and public health. The continued growth of the Collaborative reflects the commitment and leadership of cities across the country to address climate change – but we can’t stop here. This initiave has to reach into every city across the country. I urge my fellow mayors to embrace the future and drive electric.”

“The electrification of Honolulu’s city and bus fleets will go a long way in making our island more sustainable and resilient in the face of the current climate crisis,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “However, it will also improve the natural environment for our residents and visitors by eliminating smoky exhaust fumes and noise pollution from our communities. By coming together under one umbrella with this EV Collaborative, mayors across the country are increasing the purchasing power of taxpayers while also showing love for Mother Nature.”

“Cities across the country are demonstrating critical leadership by committing to transition their fleets to electrification - reducing our dependence on oil, while also improving our nation’s health, and our economic, and national security,” said Ben Prochazka, Vice President of the Electrication Coalition. “We hope other mayors around the country will see this as a call to action and plug their fleets into the Climate Mayors EV Purchasing Collaborative.”

In agreeing to purchase electric vehicles through the Collaborative, public agencies gain access to competitively solicited electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, as well as innovative leasing options that allow cities to reduce EV costs by accessing state and federal tax credits. The Collaborative also provides support with analysis and best practices for fleet electrification to cities as they consider switching to electric.

With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Collaborative is working with the American Cities Climate Challenge, a group of 25 of the largest U.S. cities who are pursuing ambitious goals to cut emissions and fight climate change from the bottom-up. American Cities Climate Challenge cities represent about 700 vehicles of the commitment.

Launched in September 2018, the Collaborative is a partnership between Climate Mayors, the Electrification Coalition, and Sourcewell, a national transit fleet transition program that works with cities and other public agencies to accelerate the electrification of national ground transit fleets. The Collaborative provides technical expertise to purchasers and a program that reduces the costs and barriers to electrifying fleets.

Contacts:

Carey Hickox (Climate Mayors): chickox@bpimedia.com

Ben Prochazka (Electrification Coalition): bprochazka@electrificationcoalition.org

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About Climate Mayors

Climate Mayors, founded in 2014, is a diverse network of U.S. city leaders who have committed to fighting climate change. In response to the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the network’s ranks swelled to more than 400 U.S. mayors from across the country who have committed to taking ambitious action to meet each of their cities’ current climate goals, while working together towards achieving our national Paris targets. Climate Mayors is founded and Chaired by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Co-Chaired by Mayors Madeline Rogero (Knoxville), Sylvester Turner (Houston) and Marty Walsh (Boston).

About the Electrification Coalition

The Electrification Coalition (EC) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the acceleration of electric vehicle adoption on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental and national security dangers caused by our nation’s dependence on oil. The EC works through several approaches to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles including consumer education, fleet electrification, public-private partnerships, comprehensive EV accelerator communities, policy advocacy, and innovative program development. Since 2008, the EC has been developing leading best practices to help cities, states, and the private sector influence the adoption of EVs by consumers and fleets.

About Sourcewell

Sourcewell is a self-supporting government organization, partnering with education and government agencies throughout North America. They offer a cooperative purchasing program with over 300 awarded vendors on contract. On behalf of their 50,000 members, Sourcewell conducts competitive solicitations, awarding to the most responsive and responsible vendors. The result of this cooperative effort is a high-quality selection of nationally leveraged, competitively solicited contract solutions to help create efficiencies and meet the ever-challenging needs of current and future member agencies.

[1] https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/electric_emissions_sources.html