County boosts funding for buying electric vehicles

At the request of Brent Durham, director of facilities management, the commissioners increased the outlay on the capital project from its initial estimate of $400,000 to an amount not to exceed $465,000.

The original plan was to replace eight gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles including six Chevrolet Bolts, Durham said. In July, the commissioners made project approval contingent on the county receiving a $75,000 Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

“We made application for that grant in December 2022,” Durham said last week. “We did not get the official award letter until late October 2023.” In mid-2023, Chevrolet decided to discontinue manufacturing Bolts, he told the commissioners, prompting county staff to settle on the Chevrolet Blazer as an alternative vehicle.

The county also received word that the price per charging station, originally estimated at $4,500, had increased to close to $7,500, Durham said. The price difference in charging stations and electric vehicles drove up the project cost to the threshold that Durham recommended last week.

This April, the commissioners accepted a voucher for $274,270 in federal funds for the electric vehicles. The voucher was made available through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.

As of last week, the county has on hand about $347,500 in grant money for the project, Durham said. The county could also pursue federal tax credits for additional savings.

“I’m hoping it comes in lower,” Durham said, referring to the final project cost.

Four charging stations are planned for the county’s Ritner Highway property and two charging stations for the county’s Allen Road property. The stations will be strictly for charging county-owned electric vehicles based at the properties.

In the lead-up to the vote, Commissioner Gary Eichelberger asked Durham whether Chevrolet must support each vehicle through the life of its battery. “There is a federal mandate that electric vehicle manufacturers must support the batteries for up to eight years,” Durham said.

Eichelberger also asked if the county will be totally dependent on the charging stations at the two properties. Public charging station equipment is not coming out nearly as fast as predicted, Eichelberger said. The vehicles the county plans to purchase will not be for long distances, Durham said.

“Have we ever resolved the question on how these vehicles will be disposed of?” Eichelberger asked. “You can trade in a conventional vehicle and get some value for it. This seems to be a big question mark.”

Durham said electric vehicles have 80% less moving parts than gas-powered vehicles. “At the eight-year mark, we’re going to have to make the decision,” Durham said. “Are we willing to spend $12,000 [per car] to put new batteries in these vehicles and keep going on or do we sell?”