NYC Fleet to Go All-Electric by 2040

Under an executive order issued by Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City plans to fully convert all of its municipal vehicles to electric power by 2040.

The initiative covers on- and off-road vehicles across 50 city agencies and offices, including everything from cars, garbage trucks and emergency vehicles to buses, ferry shuttle services and construction vehicles.

The directive doesn’t apply to personal vehicles or private fleets. In contrast, some international cities—such as Paris and London—have announced plans to ban all vehicles with combustion engines by 2040 or sooner.

Big Transition

Currently, NYC operates nearly 31,000 municipal vehicles, which is said to be the largest such fleet in the U.S. Less than 10% of these are EVs—the first electric school buses are due to be introduced later this year.

The new mandate requires city agencies to submit biennial reports, starting next January, that detail their transition plans. This will include developing charging stations to support the different types of vehicles.

Benefits

The transition is expected to yield a 50% reduction in emissions from the fleet by 2025. By 2040, the full implementation will be equivalent to removing 750,000 cars from the streets, according to the mayor’s office.

Some $36 million has been budgeted for the effort over the next fiscal year, starting July 1. The city didn’t say how many vehicles and charging stations this would include or how much more needs to be allocated in subsequent years.

More Green Apple Programs

In addition to the EV program, de Blasio also outlined several other environmental initiatives. They include plans to prohibit the use of natural gas and other fossil fuels in large buildings by 2040.

NYC also aims to:

• Double the use of solar power—including partially subsidizing installations on 50,000 homes
• Invest in wind energy and create 500 related jobs
• Increase the use of hydropower by 2025
• Prohibit any new fossil fuel infrastructure, including power plant expansions, pipelines and terminals

The programs support NYC’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.