Austin is working toward obtaining a robust electric vehicle fleet and is set to begin the process by purchasing 35 such vehicles for city use by early next year. Earlier this year, city staff, members of the Office of Sustainability, the Transportation Department and the Fleet Department, at the request of City Council, developed “Fleet Electrification” plan. The goal is to phase in 330 electric plug-in vehicles into the city’s official fleet by 2020. On Wednesday, Lewis Leff of the Office of Sustainability updated the Joint Sustainability Committee on the effort. He said a recommendation to purchase the first round of 35 electric vehicles will be brought to council by the end of January. If approved, the city would have the vehicles by the end of the summer. The project started earlier this year when Austin was applying for a federal grant to become the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City. The grant was for the development of intelligent transportation systems and a focus of the application was to figure out a way to electrify the city. Although the $50 million grant was awarded to Columbus, Ohio, Austin staffers said they wanted to continue their momentum. Thus, the Fleet Electrification plan was born. The effort aligns with the goals of the city’s Climate Plan to reduce carbon emissions. Joint Sustainability Committee member Joep Meijer is the owner and president of theRightenvironment, a sustainability strategy company. He said moving forward with the Fleet Electrification Plan is a good signal the city is taking the Climate Plan goals seriously. “This is a good step to show to the city that the city itself is committed to fulfilling so many of the requirements from the climate protection plan,” Meijer said. “Looking into progressive electrification of transportation is a way to reduce greenhouse gasses and from what we’ve seen, it is actually a money saver as well.” According to the plan, published in October, the cost of purchasing the vehicles is estimated at $9.4 million, which is the same cost as purchasing the same amount of gas and alternative fuel cars. The savings, in terms of 10-year maintenance and fuel costs, is estimated at $5.2 million. The plan is to purchases 35 vehicles in 2017, add 99 in 2018, 95 in 2019 and 101 in 2020. Leff said the city currently has some electric vehicles in its fleet, but those purchases were singular. He said this purchase will be the first formal purchase toward the Fleet Electrification plan. “We have a handful of electric vehicles already, but we’ve never had a concrete plan, there’s never really been anything formal,” Leff told Community Impact Newspaper. “This is the first time we’re getting there.” The purchase plan is still in development, but Leff said some cars that could be included in the fleet are the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius. “Electrification really depends on availability of the technology and the types of uses,” Leff said. “Austin Police Department and Austin Energy would be the two that have a majority of the vehicles in the February package.” The city will also need to install charging stations through the city. The city currently has 33 charging stations, but if all goes according to plan, 100 stations will be added by the end of 2018.