The City & County of Denver has made a commitment to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) to replace eligible fleet vehicles, Mayor Michael Hancock announced.

“Leading the change isn’t just about setting nice goals — it’s about turning those goals into the way we do business as a city. That’s why we’re going to make it a standard practice to replace our city fleet vehicles, where we can, with EVs,” Mayor Hancock said. “This is an actionable step we can take right now to make a real impact on this issue.”

Under the commitment, by 2029, nearly 25% of city fleet vehicles could be electric, amounting to potentially 850 city vehicles. It will mean taking 11,500 tons of emissions out of the air. That impact will only be increased as the electricity used to fuel those EVs comes from increasingly cleaner sources of electricity, according to the mayor’s office. Today, transportation represents nearly 30% of carbon emissions in Denver and is a leading source of air pollution.

To be “EV eligible,” the EV replacement must be produced by an established vehicle manufacturer that is available in Colorado; the EV replacement must meet the usage requirements and duty cycle of the existing vehicle; the EV’s total cost of ownership must be within 10% of the gasoline/diesel vehicle; and there is charging infrastructure available at the city property where the vehicle will be primarily parked or charging stations planned at that location for the year when the vehicle will be purchased.

Denver has already taken several steps to deploy increased electric vehicle usage and electric vehicle infrastructure:

• In 2017, the city committed to adding 200 electric vehicles to the city fleet, a goal that will be reached in 2020.

• The city has partnered with the Denver Housing Authority to pilot the state’s first EV car share location in a mixed-income community at the Mariposa Redevelopment.

• In the 2020 budget, nearly $3 million will be invested next year to purchase electric vehicles and invest in EV infrastructure.