Greenfield Recorder – Greenfield plans fleet of electric police vehicles

GREENFIELD — After the City Council approved the purchase of two police cars for $150,000 last week, the city is considering using electric cars the next time it funds additions to the department.

“I’m going to vote for this one now, but for future ones, I really don’t want to support gas cars at the level we are anymore,” Ward 8 Councilwoman Lora Wondolowski said before voting for approve financing. during Thursday’s city council meeting.

The city is currently working with the nonprofit PowerOptions to conduct a “fleet study,” analyzing costs and best practices for purchasing and establishing infrastructure to support electric municipal vehicles, in the part of an effort led by Director of Energy and Sustainability Carole Collins.

Collins said the city plans to equip the department with the new electric Chevrolet Equinox in its next funding request for police vehicles, in an effort to reduce the city’s carbon emissions and save Greenfield police money. approximately $50,000 in annual fuel costs. She added that Greenfield’s status as a Massachusetts Green Community makes it eligible for state grants — a funding source that could offset some of the costs associated with installing charging stations and purchasing of electric vehicles.

“We purchased an electric vehicle (for the Department of Health) earlier this year – it was part of a Green Communities grant we received. We’re in the process of getting the second one,” Collins said. “Of course there is a premium, and so we are working on grants to complete this project… We are going to do everything we can, and that is why the fleet study is also going to look at funding sources in order to so we can do that.

Police Chief Todd Dodge said that while he favored the idea of ​​a fleet of electric vehicles, he had some concerns about the suitability of the vehicles for police work. He highlighted the cost of installing electric vehicle chargers at the police station, the time vehicles have to spend charging at the station between shifts and the uncertainty over their reliability as important aspects to consider. account.

In an effort to learn more about electric vehicles and their potential role in law enforcement, Dodge said it contacted Joe Pugliese, chief of the city’s central maintenance department, to research the number of charging stations of vehicles that the police department’s current power supply can handle.

“I’m eager to try it and I’m pretty confident the city will do it, but there will probably be a considerable initial investment to get it off the ground. All I can say is we won’t know how successful it will be until we try it,” Dodge said. “We have to fight the war on global warming, but we have a unique job, and that job depends entirely on this car.”

Noting some of the concerns raised about electrification, Collins said new models of electric vehicles charge more quickly and that through studying the fleet, the city will be able to better understand and potentially minimize the costs of electric cruisers. She also mentioned that municipalities such as Easthampton already use electric police cars and can be considered an example of proper implementation.

“One of my top priorities is to make sure that whatever we come up with is going to be reliable and meet the needs,” Collins said. “We don’t want to compromise anyone’s use. We want to make sure that whatever they have will meet all of their needs and, in my opinion, hopefully exceed them.

Councilor-at-large John Garrett spoke in favor of electrification at last week’s City Council meeting, noting that changes to state law allow cities and towns to use stabilization funds for purposes “beyond what they have historically been used for,” before suggesting that the city begin using the funds to invest in electrification of the fleet.

In an interview Tuesday, Garrett noted that the City Council began considering electric cruisers during discussions of the city’s budget for fiscal 2025. He said that although city officials had already discussed the The electrification of Department of Public Works vehicles, such as dump trucks, police cars are lighter and much easier to replace with electric vehicle technology.

“Police cars are a lot lighter, so to me that’s the starting point if we want to try to make a clean energy transition,” Garrett said. “Another thing is that an electric motor requires less maintenance over time. There are fewer moving parts, so there is potential for savings there as well.

Wondolowski, in an interview Tuesday, echoed her remarks at the council meeting, adding that she believed an electric police fleet would not only help the city save on gas costs, but also bring Greenfield closer to the state’s goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. .

“Greenfield is committed to being a green community. We’ve taken a lot of steps toward sustainability and this is just a really good step to keep us aligned with our values,” Wondolowski said. “This is something that Greenfield should pursue to allow us to achieve these goals, which will ultimately save taxpayer dollars if we can eliminate the cost of heating oil and gasoline .”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected] or 413-930-4429.