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Folsom council terminates electric refuse truck purchase after delivery failures; loses grant credits
Summary
After repeated delivery and mechanical failures, the council voted Oct. 14 to terminate the purchase of two electric refuse trucks originally planned as a pilot, acknowledging the city will forfeit about $542,000 in grant funding and lose associated ACF credits unless alternative vehicles are procured quickly.
The City Council on Oct. 14 approved staff's recommendation to terminate the city's purchase agreement for two electric refuse trucks after repeated delivery delays and unresolved mechanical issues with the vendor's chassis and equipment.
Marie McKee, General Services manager, said the vehicles were procured in January 2023 as a pilot project and the city expected delivery in September 2023. Repeated deliveries since then were rejected because the trucks exhibited mechanical failures; staff requested references from the vendor and concluded no comparable references existed for the specific chassis upgrades the vendor promised.
McKee told the council that the city had lost confidence in the vendor's ability to supply operational trucks. She said terminating the contract will cause the city to forfeit approximately $542,000 in grant funding tied to the purchase and the ability to count the vehicles toward Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) credits. McKee estimated a current new‑vehicle list price of about $835,000 for comparable electric heavy‑duty refuse trucks, meaning that purchasing replacement trucks outside the original contract would substantially increase cost.
She said the vendor had proposed upgrades but did not produce references demonstrating successful operation in comparable municipal solid‑waste service, and staff determined the promised references were not available because no matching chassis were in solid‑waste operation.
Councilmembers discussed the tradeoffs of continuing to pursue a pilot versus procuring proven medium‑duty electric vehicles for other fleet needs. Public records show the city's existing electric light‑duty vehicles and two Ford Lightning conversions have performed reliably for administrative uses; McKee and other staff said medium‑duty electric vehicles (e.g., Ford Lightning‑class pickups and vans) are better proven in several of the city's operational roles.
The council approved the termination resolution (Res. No. 11468) unanimously. Staff said the loss of grant funding is time‑sensitive — McKee said the grant expires Dec. 31 — and if the city wants to pursue ACF credits for pilots it will need to procure vehicles that meet the program timeline.
Votes at a glance: Res. No. 11468 — terminate agreement for two electric refuse trucks — Passed 5–0 (Leary: yes; Raffel: yes; Rorba: yes; Kozlowski: yes; Aquino: yes).
