EV Charging
City of Madison Fleet Services manages over 1,400 pieces of equipment ranging from riding lawn mowers, to streets recycling and waste trucks, to passenger vehicles, to police squad cars and to fire engines and ambulances. A portion of its passenger vehicle fleet is transitioning from gasoline to electric and will total 31 electric vehicles by the end of 2020. This fleet includes 25 Chevrolet Bolts and 6 Nissan Leafs. While an electric vehicle costs more initially, there are numerous advantage to electric vehicles including lower emissions, lower fuel costs, and lower maintenance costs. Over a 10 year period of ownership we expect to save ~$8,700 on fuel costs and ~$6,500 on maintenance costs per vehicle, providing the City with a quick return on the investment and a lower environmental footprint.
In order to support our electric vehicle fleet, charger locations need to be planned into new projects and retrofitted into existing facilities. For example, chargers were designed into the new Fleet Services and Radio Shop facility to open at the end of 2020. Chargers are also being retrofitted into the Wilson Street Parking ramp and several chargers were retrofitted into the City County Building to support the expanded electric vehicle fleet.
When solar electricity, batteries and electric vehicles are combined, the results are impressive – 100% emission free fuel for City vehicles. The City is proud to debut 2 solar EV chargers at the Brayton surface public parking lot located at 1 S Butler Street. The Engineering Division and Fleet Services work together to ensure that the City vehicle fleet has the infrastructure needed to support the proposed expansion of electric vehicles. Across all facilities, the City has installed 36 EV charging stations to date.
The Facilities Management section has also been working closely with Madison Metro Transit to support their adoption of 3 electric buses in 2021. Metro Transit’s Bus Maintenance Facility needed a significant electrical upgrade to handle these 3 electric buses and the planned purchase of additional electric buses in the coming years. A 4,000 amp electrical service, dedicated to charging up to 60 buses was installed at the Bus Maintenance Facility. This electrical upgrade will meet future needs as Metro’s bus fleet transitions from diesel to electric over the next 10 years.