Olympia, Wash., purchases electric vehicle for city inspector

In keeping with its Green Fleet Policy—which calls on city officials to choose vehicles that can meet the demands of each job while having a minimal impact on the environment—the city recently purchased an electric vehicle from Santa Monica, Calif.-based Miles Electric Vehicles, thinking that such a vehicle would be a perfect fit for Snyder’s job.

“Vehicles that idle or do a lot of starting and stopping produce the greatest amount of emissions. Ruth’s work is a perfect application for an electric vehicle because the distance to and from the office is relatively short and she does a lot of short trips,” said Keith Stahley, director of community planning and development for the city of Olympia.

The city purchased the vehicle with help from the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA), which kicked in $11,000—roughly half the price of the vehicle, Stahley said. The vehicle’s low operating costs make the deal even sweeter.

“We’re looking at well under a penny per mile to operate this vehicle,” Stahley told GovPro.com. “Compare that to operating a Prius, which is getting 40 to 50 miles per gallon, and the savings is still pretty significant.”

Although the city has several hybrids and uses biodiesel for its diesel fleet, this is Olympia’s first all-electric vehicle.

“This is somewhat of a pilot project for us,” Stahley told GovPro.com. “But we certainly anticipate looking at other green, zero-emission vehicles for other applications as the need arises.”

In 2007, the ORCAA awarded a grant to Olympia to install catalytic converters on all heavy-duty construction equipment. The ORCAA is one of seven regional air pollution control agencies in Washington state.