The Municipal Equipment Maintenance Association (MEMA) and the NAFA Fleet Management Association’s Pacific Southwest Chapter combined forces to stage a ride and drive at San Diego County’s Fleet Management Division on July 25. The event brought together more than 80 attendees and was sponsored by Long Beach Clean Cities.

The event was created to educate and provide attendees with first-hand experience with electric vehicles (EV) and their procurement, incentives, infrastructure, and implementation. Attendees had an opportunity to interact with multiple EV manufacturers and test drive vehicles on display. SoCal MEMA President Dan Berlenbach and NAFA Chapter Chair Craig Grabow opened the event.

Keynote speaker Kevin Wood from the Center of Sustainable Energy shared the importance of decarbonizing fleets to create a future with sustainable, equitable, and resilient transportation. He provided insight into the vehicle fleet electrification processes, California’s state policies driving transportation electrification, available EV models, incentive rebate projects, and best practices of integrating electric vehicles for fleets.

Nate Veeh and Drake Zwahlen of Geotab provided detailed information on their company’s telematics technology for vehicle fleets, including opportunities with the new California state contract and their EV-specific capabilities.

SoCal MEMA Secretary Ivan Ortega, Sergeant at Arms Ed Fultz, and Training Coordinator Tomika Gordley represented Long Beach Clean Cities with an overview of EV advantages, disadvantages, and some frequently asked questions regarding electric vehicles that were discussed at this year’s Government Fleet Expo (GFX) held in New Orleans.

Numerous vendors were present with their alternative-fuel vehicles, including General Motors, Nissan, Dulevo International, Roush Clean Tech, TransPower, and Phoenix Motorcars. Following vendor displays and the vehicle ride and drive, attendees had a tour of the state-of-the-art County of San Diego Fleet Services facility. 

Berlenbach said the event was a success, and more collaborative meetings between the associations are in the works.