A survey of Arizona’s largest municipalities by the Arizona Public Interest Research Group and the Frontier Group found the most popul;ar electric vehicles currently are light trucks. (PIRG)
By J. Graber and Ken Sain ||Scottsdale Progress
The Arizona Public Interest Research Group and the Frontier Group say taxpayers can save a lot of money – about $80 million for the state’s 10 largest cities – by converting to a fleet of electrical vehicles.
Scottsdale Public Works Director Dan Worth says it’s more complicated than that.
The two advocacy groups teamed up to release a study detailing how cities could save money by switching to electric vehicles. They also argue it will improve air quality for Arizona residents as well.
The study claims Scottsdale could save about $11.4 million by replacing light-duty fleet vehicles at the end of their life with electric vehicles over the next 10 years. Its authors urge cities to develop a plan to convert their light-duty fleet to electric.
The survey looked at 10 large Arizona cities and determined the bulk of the savings would come from lower costs for fuel as well as maintenance and repair. It estimates the 10 cities would need to replace about 4,000 vehicles over the next 10 years.
“At some point in time, we will be able to achieve savings with electric vehicles but we’re not there yet. I’ve seen this study and other studies make similar claims and there are several problems that I’ve seen with studies like this,” Worth said.
First on Worth’s list of concerns is the claim that maintenance would be cheaper on electric vehicles.
“They all claim we’re going to get maintenance savings from electric vehicles but we haven’t had them around long enough to know we are going to get a life cycle maintenance cost reduction,” Worth said.
Replacing a battery alone can run between $4,000 and $20,000.
