The Los Angeles City Council asked departments from across the city to review the feasibility of electrifying their fleets. At its September 30 meeting, the council instructed city departments to review their budgets and identify whether planned purchases of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles could instead be electric vehicles (EVs), in order to help the city achieve its EV Master Plan.

What is the EV Master Plan?

In April, the council voted in favor of transitioning the city's entire fleet of more than 10,000 vehicles to an electric fleet.

The master plan will be conducted in coordination with the city's LA100 initiative, which aims to be 100% carbon-neutral by 2035. It is expected to bring 45,000 EV charging stations to the city by 2025. A total of 100,000 EV chargers will be available for use in just over seven years, according to Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, who chairs the council's Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and River Committee.

Over the last five years, the city has installed 350 EV chargers: 140 for the city fleet and 210 for the public and city employees at 19 facilities across the city, according to KFI AM 640.

Government Fleet previously reported that the city's current electric fleet consisted of 124 electric sedans, 46 plug-in electric hybrids, and two hybrid electric street sweepers. It received the nation's first electric fire truck the following month.

"Already, the city is really leading the way...We're going to learn so much just from this one fire rig," O'Farrell said.

He went on to say that he wants to find ways to incentivize American companies for building electric service vehicles. The fire truck was constructed by Rosenbauer in Europe. O'Farrell said the city's LA100 initiative cannot be successful without partnerships with the private sector, explaining that he is working with the state to create these kinds of incentives.

Funding Carbon Neutrality in Los Angeles

In his presentation to the city council, O'Farrell pointed to recent legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act that will make the city's move toward carbon neutrality more financially accessible. He said a combination of federal funds and locally-generated funds will assist with carbon neutrality, particularly in fleet electrification.