A Skeptic Goes Electric

A Quick Conversion

“I am the premier doubter,” explains Rob Tyndall, who runs Safety and Training for Monroe County’s Department of Environmental Services. But after being given the fully electric Chevy Bolt as his primary work vehicle, he quickly called himself a “complete convert.” “One has the prejudice that an electric vehicle is not as competent or capable as an internal combustion motor might be, but that’s not the case at all.” Tyndall continues, “It drives as tight as a drum, recharges very quickly. It’s very efficient with its use of power. There’s no maintenance to it.” 

If It’s Not Broke

Fleet Manager, Joe Saurini, responsible for operation of all county vehicles, has been extremely pleased with the electric fleet so far. He’s already seeing a small savings in maintenance costs compared to gasoline-powered vehicles and expects this to increase significantly over time. For internal combustion vehicles, “you’re going to need more maintenance on the mechanical end of the engine and transmission,” Saurini explains. “But that will widen as time goes on.” 

Anxiety in the Distance

“One of the biggest concerns people have is range anxiety,” says Clement Chung, Deputy Director for Monroe County’s Department of Environmental Services. But as Tyndall can attest, he can go a full week without charging if he chooses to. On a typical workday, Tyndall may drive up to 100 miles back and forth throughout Monroe County and never once ran into a charging problem. “I get a minimum of 150 miles and a maximum to 300 miles in the summer. It’s quite impressive,” Tyndall adds. Saurini agrees that lack of range for electric vehicles is “the biggest misconception” and that the Bolt is getting “200-300 miles a day…even the working vehicles don’t get that kind of mileage.” 

Project Highlights

Down the Road

“We are definitely going to expand our plug-in fleet,” Saurini says. They are specifically looking at the new Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck, which would represent the county’s first EV work truck. “We’re really excited about locking in a few of those next year,” adds Saurini. Chung predicts an expansion into larger electric fleet vehicles like school buses and even dump trucks. “This is an area that has so far largely been untapped, but there’s a lot of potential there.” And thanks to New York State and other grant funding, a lot of this transition has and will be subsidized in the future.  

An Inevitable Transition

Is now the right time to change over to an electric fleet? According to Chung, change is already happening and the question is whether to stand on the sidelines or be proactive. “The car manufacturers see this as the future. They are not going back to fossil fuel cars. You have an opportunity to embrace the future or you can stand by until it hits you in the face,” Chung says. Monroe County’s phased Climate Action Planning process is in full swing with no signs of slowing down. “I believe in planning to make sure I’m ready when the future arrives,” Chung adds.