Three weeks after declaring a climate emergency, the City of St. Thomas is set to purchase its first all electric crossover vehicle in its effort to improve their carbon footprint. The battery electric vehicle will replace a gas-powered vehicle used in bylaw enforcement. The current vehicle logs up to 200 km per day patrolling bylaw issues.
The electric vehicle is expected to cost in the range of $41,000 excluding HST as compared to $26,000 for a gas-powered crossover. However the yearly charging cost at $400 is one-quarter of the fuel cost of the traditional crossover and maintenance cost of the electric vehicle is half the comparative cost at $1,000.
In his report to city council yesterday, director of environmental services Justin Lawrence listed the advantages of an electric vehicle as a lower carbon footprint, less maintenance, lower noise pollution and it will demonstrate corporate social leadership.
