Township of Esquimalt council members voted in favour of endorsing a fleet electrification plan with the goal of focusing on vehicles that can be replaced with electric alternatives over the next decade in the public works and township vehicle fleet.
At a committee of the whole meeting on July 15, council members heard a presentation from Innotech Fleet Industries, who performed a fleet assessment for the township.
The plan lays out when specific vehicles are expected to be replaced and the total cost of ownership, and how much greenhouse gas emissions there will be as the gas and diesel fleet is replaced by electric alternatives.
It notes that under the electrification profile, emissions drop from 211,000 kilograms of CO2 in 2024 to 118,000 kilograms of CO2 (118 tonnes) by 2033.
"I really like this, I think it really is a rational approach to our fleet. It shows that we have a plan to get to where we need to go based on our councils targets that were adopted while maintaining an appropriate level of risk. I like the approach of not going too early, I don't think we're big enough to be the first movers of anything," said Coun. Duncan Cavens.
Coun. Darlene Rotchford asked what the turnaround would look like if one of the vehicles were to break down, and what would happen if an EV company they buy from were to shut down as the EV industry is still new.
Steven Wiebe, a representative of Innotech, said the township should buy from reputable companies, and the proper infrastructure to maintain electric vehicles is coming to the South Island, though that might make some time as Vancouver has only recently started piloting maintenance ideas for their growing electric fleet.
The report from Innotech laid out a number of recommendations to council throughout the transition, including doing demos for medium and heavy duty vehicles, budgeting for increased capital and training maintenance staff.
The committee unanimously voted in favour of endorsing the plan, and council will vote at a later date to direct staff to implement the plan.
