Federal agencies plan to spend $770M ramping up their electric vehicle usage this year – By Eric Katz (Nextgov)
The Biden administration has ambitious goals to electrify the federal fleet, but many obstacles remain.
The federal government is planning to spend $770 million on zero-emission vehicles and charging stations in fiscal 2023 as agencies begin ramping up to meet President Biden’s ambitious timeline to phase out gas-guzzling cars and trucks.
Agencies plan to buy 9,500 ZEVs in fiscal 2023, according to a Government Accountability Office report, which federal fleet offices project will cost $470 million. That marks a $200 million increase over what it would cost agencies to buy the cheapest available vehicles. They will spend another $300 million on 8,500 charging stations, provided they have the funding to do so.
Officials across government are implementing aggressive plans to electrify their fleets after Biden ordered agencies to stop purchasing emission cars, trucks and vans by 2027 and to cease buying any internal combustion engine non-tactical vehicles at all by 2035. GAO cautioned that while agencies are taking several steps to better prepare themselves for the shift, there remain many challenges to meeting the targets the Biden administration has created.
