Greenfield considers electric police vehicle fleet
Published: 06-25-2024 6:42 PM |
GREENFIELD – After City Council approved the purchase of two police cruisers for $150,000 last week, the city is considering electric cruisers 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 any more gas cars at the level that we are,” Precinct 8 City Councilor Lora Wondolowski said before voting to approve the funding at Thursday’s City Council meeting.
The city is currently working with the energy nonprofit PowerOptions to conduct a “fleet study,” analyzing the costs and best practices for purchasing and establishing infrastructure to support electric municipal vehicles, in an effort led by Energy and Sustainability Director Carole Collins.
Collins said the city plans to equip the department with the newly-released electric Chevrolet Equinox in its next request for police vehicle funding, in an effort to lower the city’s carbon emissions and save Greenfield Police roughly $50,000 in annual fuel costs. She added that Greenfield’s status as a Massachusetts Green Community qualifies it for state grants – a source of funding that might offset some of the costs associated with installing charging stations and purchasing electric vehicles.
“We bought one electric vehicle (for the Health Department) earlier this year – that was part of a Green Communities grant that we received. We’re in the process of getting the second one,” Collins said. “Of course, there’s a premium, and so we’re working on grants to supplement this project … We’re going to do everything we can, and that’s why the fleet study is also going to look at sources of funding so that we can do this.”
Police Chief Todd Dodge said while he welcomes the idea of an electric fleet, he has some concerns with the vehicles’ suitability for police work. He noted the cost of installing electric vehicle chargers at the police station, the time vehicles need to spend charging at the station between shifts, and uncertainty about their reliability as important aspects to consider.
In an effort to learn more about electric vehicles and their potential role in law enforcement, Dodge said he reached out to Joe Pugliese, head of the city’s Central Maintenance Department, to research how many vehicle charging stations the police department’s current electrical supply can handle.
“I’m excited to give it a try and I’m pretty confident that the city will, but there’s going to likely be a considerable initial investment to get this going. All I can say is we won’t know how successful this will be until we try it,” Dodge said. “We’ve got to fight the war on global warming, but we have a unique job, and that job is entirely dependent on that car.”
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Noting some of the concerns raised about electrification, Collins said newer electric vehicle models charge faster and through the fleet study, the city will be able to better understand and possibly minimize the costs of electric cruisers. She also mentioned that municipalities such as Easthampton already use electric police cruisers and can be looked to as an example of proper implementation.
“One of my top priorities is to make sure that whatever we’re proposing is going to be reliable, it’s going to suit the needs,” Collins said. “We don’t want to compromise anyone’s usage. We want to make sure that whatever they wind up having will meet all 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 in state law allow cities and towns to use stabilization funds for purposes “beyond what they have been historically used for” before suggesting that the city begin using the funds to invest in fleet electrification.
In an interview Tuesday, Garrett noted that City Council began considering electric cruisers during discussions on the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget. He said although city officials had previously discussed electrifying Department of Public Works vehicles, such as dump trucks, police cruisers are lighter and much easier to replace with electric vehicle technology.
“Police cars are much lighter, so to me, it’s the spot to start if we’re going to try to make an attempt to do a clean energy transition," Garrett said. “Another thing is an electric engine takes less maintenance over time. There’s less moving parts, so there’s a potential savings there too.”
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 bring Greenfield closer to the state’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Greenfield has committed to being a Green Community. We’ve taken a lot of steps towards sustainability and this is just a really good step to keep us in line with our values,” Wondolowski said. “This is something that Greenfield should be pursuing to allow us to reach these goals, which, ultimately, is going to save the taxpayer money if we’re able to eliminate the cost of fuel oil and gasoline.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.