The first U.S. city to outfit itself entirely with electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids is Indianapolis, Indiana. Mayor Greg Ballard signed the order mandating that official city-use sedans will be swapped for electrically driven vehicles in the coming year, with more vehicles to follow. The 12th largest city in the U.S. hopes to have completed the transition to EVs and PHEVs by 2025.
The mayor's personal vehicles will be hybrids or EVs. The city will also be soliciting automakers to develop plug-in hybrid police cars. City spokesman Marc Lotter said, "We are negotiating with the automakers and several international capital fleet firms to get the best deal possible for taxpayers."
If they were to switch just police cars to EVs and PHEVs, the city estimates it would save about $10 million in fuel costs. For Ballard, it's both personal and political. "The United States' current transportation energy model, driven by oil, exacts an enormous cost financially and in terms of strategic leverage," said the mayor, a retired Marine officer and Gulf War veteran. "Our oil dependence in some cases places the fruits of our labor into the hands of dictators united against the people of the United States."
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