Cincinnati's climate advisor says the city plans to add 20 electric vehicles and 162 charging stations by the end of 2020.
Carla Walker's comments follow an OKI Regional Council of Governments local EV Workshop highlighting global, national and statewide trends and EV policy incentives. She says Cincinnati is "beginning to transition the city's fleet to an all EV fleet."
Currently, Cincinnati just has three electric vehicles in its fleet. Walker says the city has allocated $96,000 in its budget to buy the 20 additional vehicles.
Cincinnati was chosen to be part of the American Cities Climate Challenge by Bloomberg Philanthropies. It will "support and accelerate (Cincinnati's) efforts to tackle climate change and support a sustainable future."
Over the next year, Walker wants to educate 10,000 people on the advantages of electric vehicles by hosting Ride and Drive and other events. She encourages people to email her with questions at carla.walker@cincinnati-oh.gov.
Drivers in Mason and Loveland have the most electric vehicles in the area, according to Ohio Department of Transportation data.
EV Ambassador with Clean Fuels Ohio and head of the Cincinnati Electric Car Club Ray Cardona says the growth has been exponential. He charges his electric car from solar panels on his home but says for those who don't have solar panels, the electricity is less than a dollar a day and there are no trips to the gas station.
Statewide, the Drive Electric Ohio director says EV sales are up 113% from 2017-2018. Brendan Kelly encourages local municipalities to get on the bandwagon. "All of the auto manufacturers worldwide have announced that they're going to invest a total of $135 billion in manufacturing and deploying new electric models. So this trend is coming and our communities in Ohio can either ride the wave or be swamped by it."
As the price on electric vehicles come down, OKI Strategic Initiatives Manager Robyn Bancroft says more local government are asking, "Are we actually to the point now where we'll be saving taxpayer dollars in the long-term with purchasing an EV?"
There is grant money available from a variety of sources including Duke Energy, money from the Clean Air Act civil settlement with Volkswagen, and AEP Ohio.
