Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fleet Electrification topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DGS: study calls for about 908 EV charging ports to support roughly 1,100 city vehicles; DGS to pilot chargers with $5M in funding
Summary
An ICF vehicle-analysis presented by DGS recommends roughly 908 charging ports (about 500 chargers) to support an estimated 1,100 light‑duty city vehicles; DGS said it has secured about $5 million to design two pilot sites and will focus initially on city-owned assets.
Baltimore’s Department of General Services told the council that an outside study and internal analysis show the city will need several hundred charging stations to support the municipal fleet as light‑duty vehicle purchases move to zero‑emission models.
Jason (Deputy Chief of Energy, Department of General Services) described an ICF vehicle-analysis that “calls for about 500 chargers. It's 908 ports to charge those sort of 1,100 vehicles” across roughly 44 primary locations and up to 132 total sites. He said the analysis covered vehicle use patterns and identified “dwelling locations” where vehicles park consistently and can be charged.
DGS said it has secured roughly $5 million in grant funding and will use that to design two pilot sites next year: the Birken Park headquarters and a Public Works/DOT public-safety site. The agency emphasized the chargers are intended for city assets only, not public charging.
Current inventory and near-term goals: DGS said about 51 city fleet vehicles are already electric and that roughly 25 charging ports are currently in place across downtown and the central garage; staff provided a near-term pilot plan and an asset‑by‑asset charging deployment map as part of planning.
Fleet right‑sizing and decommissioning: DGS repeated that its fleet-replacement plan aims to match replacements with decommissioning and that the city expects a significant number of assets to be retired as operations are right‑sized. The department said it will respond to a formal committee request with decommissioning projections for FY25–FY28. DGS also described an “intake shop” that upfits vehicles in-house to reduce exposure to tariff-driven supply issues and to shorten lead times.
Funding and procurement: DGS said master-lease borrowing for vehicle replacement has increased in recent years, with the department purchasing higher-cost assets in the current cycle. Staff described examples of unit prices rising for heavy apparatus and noted delivery lead times for apparatus remain at approximately 2.5–3 years depending on build slots.
Council members and the department discussed next steps for charger siting, pilot schedule and coordination with agency operations. DGS said it will work with the Parking Authority and other partners to maximize charger availability during business hours and to incorporate charging infrastructure costs into future asset budgets.
