NYC’s Mayor plans to have the country’s largest electric car fleet by 2025

By Aliya Barnwell December 3, 2015

Just plug in that EV anywhere Nissan Leaf — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ask an NYC employee about their city car in 2025, and they’ll say “It’s electric!” On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan to replace non-emergency city vehicles with electric cars like the Leaf and the Volt over the next decade. The plan is called Clean Feet, and it aims to create the largest municipal electric vehicle fleet in the US.

Mayor de Blasio said in a statement, “A cleaner, greener fleet is yet another step toward our ambitious but necessary sustainability goals, including an 80 percent reduction in all emissions by 2050.” That means getting rid of about 2,000 SUVs and sedans. The city owns about 11,000, but about half are used as emergency vehicles. The changes are planned for about half of the non-emergency fleet, which translates to the 2,000 estimate.

As old gas-powered vehicles are retired, they’ll be replaced with electric ones. An investment of about $50-$80 million over ten years will cover expanding charging capacity for the new additions. Fuel savings will offset the costs, and the conversion will help halve the city government vehicle emissions.

“By building the largest municipal electric vehicle fleet in the country – and potentially the world – New York City is continuing to lead by example,” de Blasio said. “Cities are setting the pace on climate action, and with our city and our planet’s very future at stake, we need national leaders in Paris to take note and take action.”

Details of the Clean Fleet plan are still being ironed out, like where to place charging stations for the electric cars, and how to deal with the vehicles’ limitations. For instance, some cars are required to travel beyond the range of current charging capacities. Others are usually driven in consecutive shifts which doesn’t leave time for recharging. As technologies improve, some of these limitations may be resolved.

Clean Fleet is part of the OneNYC plan, which aims to reduce all city greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. Transportation accounts for a little less than a quarter of citywide greenhouse gas emissions. City vehicles are about four percent of total city transportation emissions, or 13 percent of emissions attributable to city government.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Aliya Tyus-Barnwell is a writer, cyclist and gamer with an interest in technology. Also a fantasy fan, she's had fiction…

Cars

Mercedes’ electric eSprinter isn’t just greener, it’s better

Front three quarter view of a 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter electric van.

While best known for luxury cars, Mercedes-Benz is also a prolific maker of commercial vans. Since it first arrived in the U.S. in 2001, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter has become a favorite of both delivery fleets and camping enthusiasts. And with Mercedes kicking its electrification plans into high gear, we’re finally getting an all-electric Sprinter van.

The 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter is an updated version of a model Mercedes was already selling in Europe but was considered unsuitable for the U.S. because of its limited driving range. The updated eSprinter addresses that with a bigger battery pack and features a reengineered electric motor and other components that allow it to be built more easily alongside conventional vans. That’s happening at Mercedes’ factory in North Charleston, South Carolina, which will begin supplying electric vans to customers in the U.S. later this year.

Cars

VinFast is bringing a mini electric SUV to the U.S., and maybe a pickup, too

Front three quarter view of the VinFast VF 3 electric SUV.

VinFast has had a rocky start with its VF 8 electric SUV, but the Vietnamese automaker is pushing ahead with plans for more models. At CES 2024, it unveiled an electric pickup truck concept, and confirmed that the smaller VF 3 will be available globally.

The VF 3 was unveiled in June 2023, but VinFast said at the time that it would initially be sold only in Vietnam. The two-door, four-seat VF 3 measures 122.5 inches long — shorter than a Mini Cooper — features a 10.0-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and targets more than 125 miles of range based on the Environmental protection Agency's testing cycle. That may not sound impressive, but VinFast aims to make up for it with a low base price. That price, as well as specific timing for a U.S. launch, will be revealed at a later date. VinFast would only say that it will begin accepting early reservations later this year.

Cars

Kia reinvents the van with its electric Platform Beyond Vehicles

Kia PV5 concept car.

Kia wants to build EVs that can be easily reconfigured for different uses, ranging from ordinary passenger cars to taxis and delivery vehicles. The automaker previewed this strategy, called the Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV), at CES 2024, showing the first potential vehicle designs.

All PBV derivatives will be based on a modular platform with a fixed cab, but all bodywork aft of the cab will be interchangeable, allowing the same vehicle to serve as a taxi during the day, a delivery van at night, and a personal car on weekends, Kia says. If this sounds familiar, it's because Kia first mentioned the PBV strategy in April 2023, but at that time, the acronym stood for "Purpose-Built Vehicle."