SAMPLE DIGITAL DASHBOARD: The data used to create this interactive digital dashboard is fictional, and any resemblance to an actual fleet transition is purely coincidental. This dynamic platform is a powerful tool designed to simplify the complex process of transitioning municipal fleets for city staff and stakeholders. It provides actionable insights into fleet composition, energy use, cost comparisons, and environmental impact, empowering city leaders to make data-driven decisions. By tracking key metrics such as vehicle purchases, retirements, grant opportunities, and regulatory changes, the dashboard serves as a living document that evolves alongside your fleet’s transition. Whether navigating budget considerations or exploring new EV models, this tool equips city staff with the clarity and resources needed to plan and manage a successful, sustainable fleet transformation.

Fleet Electrification Assessment

Charging Infrastructure	Transition Planner	EV Procurements	ACF Compliance	GHG Emission Reductions

By electrifying it’s fleet, the City will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and criteria air pollutants which will benefit the local population. Economic benefits from fleet electrification include lower lifecycle costs for electric vehicles and reduced fuel cost and price volatility when compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

The City commissioned a consultant team to evaluate the short- and long-term cost savings associated with the transition to EVs, determine impacts and benefits to the City, and outline steps to efficiently and cost-effectively integrate EVs and charging infrastructure at municipal facilities. The purpose of this assessment was to evaluate the current municipal fleet composition and make recommendations for transitioning from ICE vehicles to EVs within 15 years to the extent feasible. Commitment to fleet electrification will help move the City closer to achieving its climate mitigation goals.

This assessment was created using data provided by City staff as well as from information gathered during subsequent meetings and interviews. Our EV deployment recommendations are in alignment with the City’s strategies as described in the City’s climate action plan. Our recommendations address 2025-2028 procurement cycles in detail and 2029-2040 procurement cycles more generally to ensure fiscally responsible procurement and deployment of EVs as well as proposed charging infrastructure.

Analysis Overview

The team analyzed the impacts of transitioning the City’s fleet of 1,572 light-, medium-, and heavy-duty internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, located at 56 facilities, to electric vehicles (EVs). Off-road equipment and vehicles not subject to the Advanced Clean Fleets rule were excluded from this analysis. The team recommends the deployment of 388 (L2) electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), chargers, 21 DC (slow) chargers, and 32 DC Fast Chargers (DCFC). Two scenarios are presented:

• Baseline Scenario: Business as usual case where the City would continue using ICE vehicles

• Transition Scenario: Scenario where the City would purchase EVs and install EVSE (L2, DC (slow) and DCFC

Our analysis shows that transition of the City’s municipal fleet to electric vehicles would cost the City an additional $14.4 when compared to the Baseline scenario over a 15-year period, and save the city around $43.7M in operating expenses. This transition should also reduce GHG emissions by 122.8 MMtCO2e over the same period. The cost reductions in the transition scenario are driven by vehicle incentives, Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits, fuel cost savings and reduced maintenance costs.

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EVSE Recommendations

The team recommends that the City install 32 dual-port 150 kW DCFC in addition to the 388 dual-port L2s, and 21 DC (slow) single-port chargers. This will provide 797 slots for charging vehicles using shared L2s and DC (slow) chargers. Sixty-four vehicles may be charged simultaneously at the DCFCs. We are assuming “take home” vehicles would be charged at home or at an available charger during operating hours.

The installation of chargers will cost the City about $29.5M which will provide 97% more charging capacity than is needed to power the EV fleet. The EVSE utilization rate is calculated by dividing the total daily kWh demand by the daily EVSE charging capacity at peak charging rates. EVSE will only charge at peak rates when the vehicle’s onboard charger will allow it and when the battery is fully discharged, so this metric should be viewed as a rough estimate of unused charging capacity.

The annual EVSE operating expenses include charger depreciation (assuming an 8-year lifetime of each installed charging station), maintenance (routine, preventative, corrective), software/licensing fees, and networking fees. Electricity costs are included in the EV operating costs.

Two vehicles may be charged simultaneously at the DCFCs. We expect new EV models will have reduced charging times in the near future. Charging an EV is already comparable to fueling a gasoline vehicle in some cases, so there should be no need for dedicated fleet personnel to charge and reposition EVs.

The visualization below includes a map of the proposed EVSE installations along with their associated capital and operating costs (to be added later).

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Transition Planner

Recognizing that there are many ways to achieve full fleet electrification, this Transition Planner (see visualization below) will allow the City to consider many different approaches to achieving this goal. For example, the City may prioritize the replacement of the oldest vehicles first, or it may decide to replace vehicles by facility, based on availability of EVSE. Use the Transition Planner to explore ways to adjust costs and timelines to fit anticipated budgets. This planner uses representative vehicle capital costs and may not reflect the actual vehicle costs of the chosen make and model at the time of purchase.

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EV Capital Costs by Department

It will cost the City about $112M to transition the current ICE fleet to EVs over the next 15 years. Many vehicles are past their useful lifespans, and are due for immediate replacement. To reduce the cost of EVs due to be replaced in 2025, some vehicles are assumed to have a deferred replacement. Police patrol vehicles are expected to complete one more lifecycle as a conventional or hybrid vehicle. Vehicles subject to the Advanced Clean Fleets rule have been deferred according to their group category. All vehicles should be transitioned by 2040. Costs for replacing electric vehicles are not included in this analysis.

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Electric Vehicle Procurements

Many light-duty EVs in the market today could meet the City’s needs and are reasonably priced. However, it might take five or more years for Class 3–8 EVs to reach sticker price and range parity with their conventionally-fueled equivalents.

The City might also consider replacing some of its medium-duty vehicles with light-duty vehicles (e.g., Ford F-250 replaced with a Ford F-150 Lightning) where increased towing and hauling capacity is not needed. The Ford F-150 Lightning reportedly loses around 50% of its range when towing equipment, but this might still be acceptable performance for some of the City’s duty cycles.

For M/HD vehicles that haul or tow short distances, there are a number of EV options available now. Some vehicle types are better suited to electrification than others. For example, bucket trucks, yard tractors, buses and panel vans typically have duty cycles where an EV alternative is suitable. Other vehicle types are much more difficult to electrify, such as dump trucks, vacuum trucks and rodders, which require significant amounts of energy to operate. Battery electric refuse trucks and sweepers are available now, though their range and performance are still somewhat limited.

The City may also optimize the number of vehicles included in its fleet based on operational requirements. Employee surveys can collect data about needs, and we recommend a simple online survey or trip diary to record several days of travel. This could help to reduce overall capital and operating costs for vehicles and chargers if some existing low-use vehicles are retired at the end of their lives rather than replaced while the City still maintains the same operational capacity.

Police department EV costs do not include upfitting equipment such as lights, sirens, and radios.

Tesla reports that ancillary lighting and cabin air conditioning/heating do not require much energy, particularly if high efficiency heat pumps are used. However, cabin heating using resistance heating does draw significant amounts of power. One advantage of EVs is that they can provide power to equipment, lifts and lights without needing an engine to be idling.

Electric vehicles typically charge where they park. For light-duty EVs, L2 charging adds 10-20 miles of range per hour and can recharge a battery in 6-12 hours. Larger vehicles have bigger batteries and need either more time to charge (8-to-12 hours) or to be charged at a DCFC.

The following are vehicle replacement options for each duty cycle:

Duty Cycle	Potential Vehicle Replacement Options
Sedan	Hyundai Kona Hyundai Ionic 6
SUV	Ford Mustang Mach-E Chevrolet Blazer EV
Police SUV	Chevrolet Blazer EV PPV
Minivan	Kia EV9 Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle
Utility Van	Ford E-Transit Cargo Van Lightning ZEV3 Passenger Van
Class 1-2 Pickup	Ford F-150 Lightning Ram 1500 REV
Parking Enforcement Vehicle	MAXEV3
Motorcycle	Zero DSR Harley Davidson LiveWire
Class 2/3 Truck	Chevrolet Silverado Ford E-Transit Chassis Cab
Class 4/5 Truck	Rizon e16L Motiv EPIC 4
Class 6 Truck	Kenworth K270E Freightliner eM2
Class 7/8	Volvo VNR Mack MD Electric
Sweeper/Vacuum Truck	Kenworth K270E Global M3EV
Refuse	Kenworth K270E Mack LR Electric

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ACF Compliance Tool

The Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) Compliance tool can be used to help plan medium- and heavy-duty vehicle purchases to ensure compliance with the ACF CARB rule and to ensure enough chargers are installed and operational before the delivery of EVs. The Pass/Fail table automatically updates to indicate whether or not the replacement vehicles above comply with either the Procurement Pathway or the Milestone Pathway. How to use this tool:

Click on the green or red bars to select a replacement vehicle from the dropdown list.
Move the green or red bars left or right to line up with the desired replacement year.
To add/remove a vehicle from the table calculations, check/uncheck the box on the far left.
To expand/contract the existing vehicle table, click on the |-> symbol at the top.
To filter the dropdown list by vehicle class, select the toggle at the top “Filter by Class”.
To search on any field, use the search bar at the top next to the 🔍 icon.
To open the tool in a new tab, click on the new tab icon in the upper right corner.
To save a configuration, click on the 🇽 icon in the upper right to “Export Current Configuration”. This action will download an excel spreadsheet to your computer. Send this file to tpaddon@dksassociates.com so it can be uploaded into this webpage. Once this is completed, your new configuration will be saved as the new starting state (but not until then).

Inflation Reduction Act – Clean Vehicle Credits

Credits may be available under Section 30D of the Internal Revenue Code for light-, medium- and heavy duty vehicles leased by the City from an eligible entity. The credit is limited to $7,500 for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds, and $40,000 for all other vehicles.

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GHG Emission Reductions

Over this study’s 15-year evaluation period, we estimate that the City can reduce its GHG emissions by 122.8 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MMtCO2e) by converting the City’s fleet to all electric vehicles. The visualization below shows GHG emission reductions on an annual basis, as the current fleet is replaced with EVs following the City’s replacement schedule. Any delays in EV acquisitions will slow the progress of GHG reductions during this period. The time frame can be adjusted using the slider lever to set the view to anywhere between one and 15 years and/or to individual facilities to see the GHG emissions at that level.

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Assumptions

(More to be added)

HARD COSTS:

1. EV Chargers This includes:

Level 1 EV chargers (120V receptacles)
Level 2 EV chargers (ChargePoint CT4000 or equivalent)
Power cords and cable management for Level 1 or 2 chargers
DC Fast Chargers (150 kW Blink/BTC/ABB or equivalent)
Gateway Module/ Load Management Devices

Note: this excludes costs for warranties because the standard warranty that vendor offers is part of the cost estimate tool.

2. Materials/Equipment This includes costs of purchasing and installing materials typically required for fleet EV charging projects (other than the EV chargers themselves) including the following items:

Wiring (Note 50 feet of conduit, wiring assumed per Level 1 and 100 feet per Level 2 and DC Fast charger)
Conduit Systems (underground and/or surface-mounted)
Trenching and/or directional drilling
Pull Boxes (installed in the ground and/or surface mounted)
Aerial wire spans
Footings for installation of EV charger pedestals and electrical service panels
Bollards
Wheel stops
Step Down transformers
Electrical service panels including sub panels
Circuit breakers
Signage
Striping for parking stalls

3. Site restoration Site restoration covers the costs to install Civil/Landscaping improvements to restore the site following excavation and other construction activities including:

Minor restoration for civil infrastructure such as roadway and/or sidewalk repaving
Minor curb and gutter restoration
Minor surface water (drainage infrastructure) restoration
Minor landscaping restoration such as replanting

SOFT COSTS:

4. Contracting/Design An estimated 20% mark-up has been applied to the total project costs to include:

Engineering design fees
Contractor profits

5. Permitting Each local authority with jurisdiction mandates electrical permits for installation of EV chargers:

Electrical permit fees charged by local jurisdictions, typically $5k per site plus $1k for labor and contingency.

6. Utility fees This consists of fees charged by PG&E to bring additional power for the EV chargers, including:

Electrical upgrade design
Transformer replacement

7. Contingencies A 20% mark-up has been applied to the project costs for each cost category (categories #1, #2, #3, #5, and #6 including contracting/design) consistent with public agency capital project budgeting.

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Fuel/Maintenance Cost Savings

A significant benefit of transitioning to EVs is the reduced fuel and maintenance costs. In the visualization below, the green bars represent the total fuel costs of the transition fleet (gasoline, diesel & electricity), which is significantly less than the fuel costs in the Baseline scenario (gasoline & diesel), as indicated by the orange bars. To calculate gasoline and diesel average costs, EIA data was used from November 2024. The estimated per kWh cost of electricity was $.28/kWh for from PG&E (mostly Super Off Peak rates). Electricity costs were offset by CARB’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits. Maintenance costs for EVs were estimated to be 55% of the equivalent ICE vehicle cost. The costs to fuel an electrified fleet would still be lower than a conventionally powered fleet, even without LCFS credits. Fuel cost savings are based on the transition of the City’s existing conventional fleet to electric vehicles.

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Risks and Challenges

1. Availability of EV models suitable for fleets – Many light-duty EVs are available at competitive prices today, though supply chain, worker strikes and other geopolitical factors can significantly affect availability. Pricing and delivery times have been especially volatile. Medium- and heavy-duty EVs are available in low volumes and have long lead times. As a result, many fleets have been unable to comply with planned replacement schedules and prices have escalated far above budget estimates. Therefore the City should plan on adjusting budgets to address these constraints. Fleet customers who traditionally have benefitted from volume price discounts have had their orders repeatedly delayed or canceled outright and experienced massive price hikes for the few models that were delivered.

2. Utility delays providing electrical service upgrades – One of the longest lead items that most fleets have little control over is provision of electrical capacity to power chargers. It can take months just to engage a typical utility in the planning process plus many more months to procure critical electrical hardware such as transformers, making utility engagement and provision of facility electrical upgrades the critical path on many projects. Delays in procurement may lead to additional cost for labor, equipment and materials. However, some of this risk can be mitigated or even eliminated with battery storage systems.

3. Grid-scale power constraints – The power grid is a relic of an era when electricity was only used for static loads like buildings, not mobile loads like EVs. The grid is already strained beyond capacity in many areas of California. The transition of vehicles from fossil fuels to grid-supplied electricity in the coming years and decades will increase demand for electricity, furthering this strain. The City utility’s strategic plan addresses the commitment to meet grid capacity needs for both building and vehicle electrification.

4. Facility-scale power supply constraints – Even in locations where the utility grid has sufficient power capacity, there may be localized constraints at the substation or site level. Since most fleet facilities were not designed for EVs, the electrical loads from EVSE will likely exceed the available power capacity for any fleet facility with even a modest number of vehicles. Upgrading a facility’s electrical capacity typically requires an expensive new transformer and other equipment, and this can add significantly to project implementation timeframes.

5. Resiliency for EV charging during power outages – Power outages are becoming increasingly common in California, so the City needs to be prepared by investing in backup power to charge mission-critical EVs, especially during extended power outages. The conventional approach has been to install diesel engine-powered generators. However an expanding variety of alternative technologies are becoming available that can provide resiliency with lower emissions. For example, conventional generators can be powered by renewable diesel fuel or replaced by highly efficient linear generators that can be powered by low or zero emission fuels. Where hydrogen is available, hydrogen fuel cells can provide backup power. Stationary battery storage systems are becoming more cost effective due to falling battery costs and a rapidly growing industry, though costs associated with battery storage have not been explored or reflected in this analysis. Power can also be delivered to fleet facilities or to individual EVs via mobile batteries, including power purchased from third-party power or charging-as-a-service vendors. Power can also be generated by onsite renewable sources using solar arrays or micro-wind systems, typically integrated with storage batteries as part of a microgrid. The increasing popularity of EVs like the Ford F-150 Lightning with bi-directional charging capability will allow fleets to use their own EV batteries to charge one another, via the facility microgrid that can also power other loads, like buildings.

6. Placement of EVSE – Careful planning will be required for the installation of EVSE. There are restrictions on where EVSE may be placed, and they must meet ADA accessibility guidelines. EVSE for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles will require accommodations due to the length and limited maneuverability of these vehicle types.

Conclusion

The transition of the City’s motor vehicle fleet will require the purchase of EVs to replace conventional ICE vehicles and the installation of EVSE and related infrastructure to support the transition. This study presents an optimal EVSE deployment scenario that minimizes cost through efficiently shared charging. L2 and DC charging infrastructure installations are recommended at various locations to offer as many charging slots as possible. The transition of the City’s fleet to EVs is expected to cost the City an additional $14.4M as compared to the Baseline scenario, and also save the City around $43.7 M in operational expenses over the next 15 years. The City’s EV fleet transition is estimated to provide GHG emission reductions of 122.8 MMtCO2e over a 15-year period.