Article series: How communities across Canada are electrifying their municipal fleets

Electric vehicles (EVs) can benefit Canadian municipalities. By electrifying municipal fleets, local governments can enjoy: 

• Reduced fuel expenses and maintenance costs  
• Improved service to their community 
• Significant environmental benefits including reduced transportation emissions 

The EV market is growing rapidly, and governments are increasingly committed to EV adoption through the development of policies and programs. However, making the switch to EV fleets comes with some common challenges: lack of green fleet business cases, procurement and supply chain issues, insufficient infrastructure and lack of suitable vehicles can present barriers to EV adoption in many municipalities.  

In this series of articles, we explore innovative approaches to scale up municipal EV fleets. Read on for a snapshot of how three municipalities broke through some of these common barriers and crafted unique solutions that could be applied in municipalities across Canada.  

• West Vancouver: Facing common roadblocks related to lack of charging infrastructure? Learn how the city overcame these barriers by conducting a full electrical system update of two key municipal facilities and installing chargers for existing and future EVs.
• Calgary: When municipal staff were tasked with incorporating hybrid and fully electric vehicles into the municipal fleet, they encountered a variety of procurement, operational and process barriers. Learn how they broke through these barriers and acquired more than 30 EVs in 3 years to create one of the fastest growing EV fleets in western Canada. 
• Kingston: Confronted with financial, technological and policy barriers to electrification, the city developed a proactive strategy around a leasing policy to build their EV fleets. Discover how leasing can ease supply chain issues and support electrification until advanced EV technology becomes available in the market.

Images courtesy of the City of Vancouver, the City of Calgary, and the City of Kingston.