‘Into the future’: Lynchburg unveils first fully electric vehicles to be part of city’s fleet

As the garage doors rolled up at the City of Lynchburg’s fleet management building on Memorial Avenue, Mayor MaryJane Dolan, Vice Mayor Beau Wright and several members of city staff looked on.

Seven new fully electric 2022 Chevrolet Bolt vehicles emerged. They’ll bring the city’s fleet “into the future,” Chuck Cramer, the city’s director of fleet services, said Thursday.

The electric utility vehicles, or EUVs, will be spread out across fleet services, public works and parking enforcement, Cramer said.

Cramer said the pilot program with these seven vehicles has been in the works for about 18 months, and he credited former Deputy City Manager Reid Wodicka with helping to get the ball rolling on the program.

“Reid Wodicka really thought we should step forward and do this, and I pitched a pilot program, a small program, I was thinking two or three vehicles, and we decided we needed to “get with the times” sort of … and try to find the fuel savings, try to find the reduction in our emissions, because fleets across the country are considered the biggest producers of [greenhouse gasses],” Cramer said.

Cramer said each vehicle cost $31,670, will not require oil changes or spark plug replacements, and will require no gasoline.

According to a handout at the electric vehicle rollout, the city is estimating savings of $1,000 to $1,700 per year for one electric vehicle on fueling, although Cramer said it might be too early to know for sure the savings with this program.

“We’ve done some research; there’s not enough data out there to really say what we’re going to save over 20 years or anything to that effect,” Cramer said.

“But this is a pilot program, we’re bringing them into the city, and we’re going to start looking at the data. We’re going to watch the charging. How much do we pay on charging? How much fuel are we saving? How much use are we getting out of them? Things of that nature.”

Dolan, who was among the first passengers in the new electric vehicles, said she’d like to see more data before saying she’d like to see a full fleet of electric cars.

“From an environmental standpoint,” Dolan said, “I think it’s really a good move for us to move into the future that way.

“But from a budgetary standpoint, I think I’d like to wait until I saw the data before I endorsed it totally. But I’m excited; it’s fun to drive.”

The vehicles, according to Cramer, have a maximum range of 273 miles. Additionally, the handout said the batteries in the cars are projected to “outlive the cars themselves.”

The EUVs use regenerative braking going downhill. The car uses the motor to slow down the vehicle, allowing the car to recharge, and drivers will not need to use the brakes as much.

Cramer said the city currently has three “dumb chargers,” which were donated by Virginia Clean Cities, an organization that aims to “advances air quality improvement, economic opportunity, and energy security through deployment of alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure, education programs and other petroleum reduction activities,” according to its website.

He added city officials have “almost completed” their decision on the smart chargers for the remaining four vehicles.

Wright, who had the opportunity to take one of the vehicles for a ride around the public works complex, said this move sends a message to the community that the city is working to combat climate change.

“I think it sends a really important signal to the community,” Wright said. “I think it’s really important that we invest in renewable energy and climate change mitigation generally, so this is an excellent step.”