Mayors Across NJ, U.S.. Commit to Expanding EV Fleets

Mayors from 127 cities across 38 states are committing to buying more than 2,100 electric vehicles, including school buses, by 2020 to fill out local government fleets. The pledge was made this week by the Climate Mayors Elective Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative, a purchasing bloc designed to get better pricing on EVs. Participating New Jersey towns include Jersey City, Hoboken, Piscataway, Plainsboro, Verona, Cape May Point and Highland Park. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also joined the pledge under the Collaborative.

“Our towns and cities are moving forward on electric vehicles while our state is not. These communities have made a commitment to electrifying their government fleets, which is critical. Mobile sources are the largest source of our air pollution, producing 45% of our greenhouse gases. The Climate Mayors Collaborative helps make EVs more affordable for towns by lowering prices through bulk demand. That will help us start to move more quickly on EVs and electrifying our buses and ports. The pledge by our mayors in places like Jersey City and Hoboken is a step forward in reducing greenhouse gases and improving our “F” level air quality. However we need more from our governor and legislature. We need to accelerate our EV program so that we can hit our target of 330,000 EV’s on the road by 2025,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. 

Climate Mayors is a group of more than 400 members from across the country committed to demonstrate leadership on climate change. The Purchasing Collaborative is designed to lower EV prices through aggregate demand and provide a single, equal price for vehicles and infrastructure. Climate Mayors estimates that the group’s EV commitments for 2020 would cut gas usage by 1 million gallons a year.

“The leadership being shown by mayors on climate change should encourage other communities to move more aggressively in electrifying their own fleets. They also need to put more pressure on state government to act. A strong EV program doesn’t just help cut greenhouse gases, but will improve the economy with more green jobs. We need to spend the rest of the VW settlement money to expand EVs. The state also needs to take advantage of the regional Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) to work with other states in reducing transportation emissions,” said Tittel. “While we’re seeing towns moving forward, the state hasn’t moved on EV legislation, or signed an executive order on EVs. While towns are making progress, the state is stalled. It’s important we work with the mayors to follow through on their commitments.”

There is legislation in place, bill S2252 (Smith) that offers a comprehensive plan to advance EV technology and charging stations across New Jersey. That bill has remained stalled. New Jersey’s goal based on California’s law is 330,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025.

“We will have more EVs on the road thanks to towns banding together with commitments to electrification. We also need to electrify our buses and ports, and build out an EV charging infrastructure that will encourage more purchases. We need to update building codes for commercial, office buildings, and redevelopment, and require charging stations. There also must be equity in electrifying our transportation system. We need to target overburdened and EJ communities with pollution reductions from EVs, including buses. We must ensure low-income communities share equally in the benefits, including jobs,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The legislature needs to move forward on S2252 (Smith) that lays out a comprehensive plan for promoting EV use. We have been gridlocked for too long on EVs. Some of our towns are showing us how to put the Pedal to the Metal.”