WELLINGTON COUNTY – There may be limited opportunities for Wellington County’s fleet of vehicles to switch to electric or hybrid according to a report but a pilot project suggests trying it out.
A pilot program being proposed at an upcoming committee meeting suggests three vehicles due for replacement that could be transitioned to electric or hybrid vehicles for an estimated cost $313,200 which includes new EV chargers and installation and seven years of vehicle maintenance.
The vehicles identified as most suitable for this pilot study are an IT utility van to be replaced with an electric van, a three-quarter tonne pickup truck used by Green Legacy to become a ½ ton electric pickup truck and a half-tonne pickup truck used by property services to be replaced with a hybrid.
These candidates are considered “light duty vehicles” that could more easily be transitioned to electric or hybrid alternatives.
“While the county’s lean fleet contained vehicles eligible for a green transition, there are operational challenges that limit those opportunities,” the report said.
Karen Chisholme, the county’s climate change and sustainability manager, explained in a phone interview Wellington County is quite lean and all perform specific services that can’t be replaced with electric vehicles.
“Some companies have vehicles that staff can sign out to do site visits or whatever and they’re usually cars. The county doesn’t have that and those types of vehicles are very easy to switch out (for electric),” she said.
Some examples she listed include vehicles that tow, ¾ ton pickup trucks, heavy equipment vehicles, snow plows, and ones that remain with staff at all times such as a road supervisor.
Some of the lower tier townships have begun to incorporate electric vehicles into their fleet but Chisholme said these would be the county’s first, should it get approved by the committee and later full council.
Going with a hybrid truck, an electric truck and an electric van gives the county a range of vehicles that may be used in other departments, Chisholme said, giving operators and mechanics time to understand how they work.
There will be a system in each vehicle collecting data which will be collected by county staff as part of this pilot program. Chisholme said she’s spoken with other counties and there is an appetite at replacing fleet vehicles with lower emission ones.
“It definitely is growing momentum in municipalities to do the work, it’s the how we get there and every municipality is going to look at it slightly different,” she said.
This pilot project will be considered at a planning committee meeting Thursday morning before going before full county council for ratification later in September.
The full report can be found as part of this agenda.
