The City of New Westminster hopes to drive down greenhouse gases with the addition of an electric car to its vehicle fleet.
Last summer, council directed staff to buy one electric vehicle as part of the city's vehicle replacement program. On Tuesday, the city unveiled its first electric vehicle charging stations and its first electric car.
"The car is magnificent. I drove it around the block with Coun. Bill Harper. It is the future; there is no doubt about it. We are at the forefront of it," said Mayor Wayne Wright. "From our point of view, I think it is terrific."
The new Level 2 EV charging stations are located in the rear parking lot of city hall and on the A deck at the Sixth Street entrance to the Front Street parkade. The charging stations will give drivers of electric vehicles a place to charge their cars at no cost.
"We are proud to be among the region's municipalities adopting new technologies and infrastructure to improve air quality and ensure sustainable transportation options for our future," Wright said. "By installing new charging stations in New Westminster, we are supporting residents in making environmentally friendly choices and giving electric vehicle drivers the freedom to visit and move throughout our great community."
The charging station at city hall will provide a place where the city can charge its new 100 per cent electric Nissan Leaf, a vehicle that will be used by staff when they're conducting city business. The vehicle replaces a gas-powered vehicle that had been part of the city's fleet of vehicles.
"The city is committed to our low carbon fleet policy, and our new electric vehicle and charging stations put us on the right path to reducing our fleet emissions by 2017," said Dave Cole, assistant manager of engineering operations, in a press release. "Our plan is to try and incorporate more hybrid and electric vehicles, including utility trucks, into our fleet in the future."
The City of New Westminster's corporate energy and greenhouse gas emission management plan is seeking to reduce fleet emissions by 11 per cent (from 2007 levels) by 2017. The use of electric vehicles in the city's fleet is one area that's been identified as helping meet that goal.
According to a city press release, the city will save about $16,000 and reduce more than six tonnes of greenhouse gases over the eight-year lifespan of the vehicle. The zero-emission vehicle is capable of traveling up to 160 kilometres per hour and is estimated to cost the city about $200 a year to operate, compared to $1,200 for a gas-powered vehicle.
The City of New Westminster applied for provincial funds to help reduce the costs of purchasing the electric vehicle and establishing the charging stations. The city received $5,000 from the Clean Energy Vehicle program towards the cost of the electric vehicle and $20,000 from the Community Charging Infrastructure Fund toward the installation of five charging stations in the city.
Blair Fryer, the city's communications manager, said the electric car's battery has an eight-year warranty. When the city first announced its plan to buy an electric vehicle, staff reported that the cost of buying an electric vehicle would range from $33,000 to $50,000.
According to Fryer, the Nissan Leaf cost $37,000 and the city received a $5,000 grant from the province, so the final cost to the city was $32,000.
In addition to the charging stations that are available for the public's use, an additional station will be located in the city's engineering operations works yard.
In the past, the City of New Westminster purchased two electric bikes that staff at city hall can use to get to appointments around town. The city also bought an electric-powered Zamboni at Moody Park Arena.
