Public commenter questions reliability and cost of electric Volterra fire truck pilot used by Gilbert Fire and Rescue

A public commenter raised technical and fiscal concerns about Gilbert Fire and Rescue’s pilot with the Volterra electric fire apparatus during the March 25 meeting.

Steve LaValle (public commenter) referenced the department’s Year‑1 Volterra report and said the truck’s reported reliability (76% in the pilot report, by his reading) was lower than that of the department’s diesel apparatus. He told the council he reviewed the pilot's operational numbers and maintenance data and said the truck carries a capital premium (the commenter cited roughly $1.1 million additional cost per truck compared with a conventionally powered vehicle) that would not be recovered by the modest annual maintenance and fuel savings shown in the department’s materials. "If you take that monthly energy consumption... the total annual savings comes to about $26,964 a year," LaValle said in summary of his calculations, adding the implied payback could be decades.

LaValle also said reliability incidents had required other apparatus to cover calls while the electric vehicle was out of service, and he urged the council to require fuller cost analyses and infrastructure maintenance planning before expanding the pilot. He requested more detailed data on battery replacement costs, expected lifespan and long‑term infrastructure needs for charging and electrical redundancies.

The council did not take action at the meeting. The speaker said he had provided the council and staff with a detailed spreadsheet and report and offered to meet with officials to review his calculations.

Ending: The council heard public technical and fiscal critiques of the Volterra pilot. No formal policy change or vote occurred; the commenter said he would share his spreadsheet with staff for follow up.