Jersy City, N.J., Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced July 13 the expansive implementation of electric vehicles throughout Jersey City’s municipal fleet to become the first on the East Coast with fully electric garbage trucks and some of the first EV Police response vehicles. The infrastructure advancements to New Jersey’s largest municipal fleet fall under the Mayor’s Executive Order to require 10% of all new municipal fleet vehicles to be fully electric this year where available, with a goal of 100% of new municipal fleet vehicles to be fully electric by 2030.

The city has rapidly transitioned toward a greener future, implementing the following initiatives in just the last year:

• All new vehicles purchased in 2020 have been fully electric (eight total)

• First municipality on the East Coast to purchase five fully electric garbage trucks through a $2 million NJDEP grant the city was selected for out of 150 proposals

• Four fully electric police vehicles to pilot JCPD fleet shift

• 24 EV charging stations installed for municipal and public use across the city, purchased through a $76,000 NJDEP grant

• Established the first EV-only parking zones in NJ at EV charging stations to help foster public adoption

• Jersey City Via rideshare service is one of the first transit services in the country to use EVs with over

• 10% of the current fleet being fully electric

• New solar panels installed at DPW provide electricity to the building and EV charging stations through the 1.23 Megawatt solar array

• City’s first car-sharing program optimizes the size and efficiency of all fleet vehicle operations eliminating underused vehicles to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions

• Replaced right older, less efficient gas-powered vehicles with four Nissan Leafs

“While Jersey City has been awarded several NJDEP grants to subsidize much of the initial electrification costs and vehicle purchases, the significantly reduced energy and maintenance costs for EVs will allow these investments to pay for themselves over the course of a few years,” said Business Administrator Brian Platt. “The five electric garbage trucks will be among the first of its kind in the nation and even around the world, and will replace eight of our highest polluting vehicles in the city.”