Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Electric Vehicles topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Allentown approves seven‑vehicle electric‑vehicle pilot and charger installations
Summary
City Council voted to accelerate and approve an EV pilot—seven electric passenger vehicles and seven chargers—for a $382,548 equipment‑fund increase, citing grant funds and potential fleet savings; vote was unanimous (7–0).
Allentown City Council approved Bill 73 to add $382,548 to the equipment fund for a pilot program to buy seven electric vehicles and seven chargers for city fleet use and to collect data on costs and benefits. The council waived the usual 14‑day period and approved the pilot 7–0.
Environmental Advisory Council co‑chair Tinku Kanwakker urged the council to proceed, saying consultants estimated near‑term fuel and operating savings. “Wilson Engineering estimated that the city would save $19,755 for the seven EVs that are part of this scope,” Kanwakker said, and said a full fleet transition could yield substantially larger annual savings.
Resident and advisory‑council member Kyle Ropsky supported the pilot as fiscally prudent and said the grant funding made the experiment low risk. Council members raised questions about battery supply chains and materials sourcing; one council member asked whether the chosen vehicle uses cobalt sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a council member who checked online said the General Motors battery technology does use cobalt from the Congo.
Council members emphasized the pilot is limited and that vehicles and chargers would be repurposed into the fleet if the pilot did not meet expectations. The administration said the pilot will provide data on operating costs before any broader fleet transition.
The pilot advances using grant funding; the administration and the Environmental Advisory Council said they expect the pilot’s data to inform future fleet decisions.
