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Sedona hosts EV ride‑and‑drive and begins municipal charger installations for fleet electrification
Summary
The city ran a two‑day EV ride‑and‑drive that drew about 100 public attendees and provided fleet test drives for police departments; staff selected InCharge to install two Level‑2 chargers each at City Hall and Contractors Road for municipal use.
The Sedona sustainability department described a two‑day electric vehicle ride‑and‑drive event intended to familiarize the public and municipal staff with EVs and to support the city’s green‑fleet policy. Staff also gave an update on charger installations to support municipal vehicles.
Zach said the ride‑and‑drive, held at Posse Grounds Park with Drive Electric Arizona, hosted about 100 people from the public and additional government‑staff days for municipal and police representatives. The event included roughly 20 vehicles available for test drives and upfits from a California firm that adapts Teslas for police work. "A lot of the officers had a really positive experience with, with those vehicles," Zach said. Staff reported representatives from Flagstaff, Northern Arizona University, Sedona and Verde Valley police departments participated.
To support fleet electrification, the city awarded a charger‑installation contract to InCharge (a vendor focused on fleet charging) and is installing phase‑1 chargers: two high‑powered Level‑2 chargers at City Hall and two at Contractors Road. Staff said the City Hall chargers should be operational by the end of the month; the Contractors Road chargers are delayed by a long lead time for an electrical panel and will also require coordination with the utility for an overhead power upgrade because the facility is near capacity.
Council discussion addressed site selection and parking impacts. Staff said initial siting reflected quotes, site constraints and Community Development input; they moved chargers off the front sidewalk area to avoid blocking pedestrian access and to preserve solar canopy shading by reallocating pool vehicles to another lot. Councilors raised concerns that additional chargers and equipment could reduce shaded parking available to the public. Staff said changes were intended to avoid a net loss of public spaces by moving pool vehicles out of shaded spots.
The city said the chargers will be for municipal vehicles only, and the sustainability department will pilot InCharge equipment for six to 12 months before potential broader deployment.
