While you might not love the idea of getting ticketed by a bylaw officer, what if it was delivered to you with a reduced carbon footprint?
Surely you wouldn’t protest if the officer was driving in the District of West Vancouver’s shiny new Ford F-150 Lightning, the first full-battery truck to be employed by a municipality on the North Shore.
Official handoff of the keys to municipal staff was on Wednesday, with the truck hitting the road for its first shift on Thursday (June 15).
West Vancouver’s vision is to inspire excellence and lead by example in sustainable operations, said district spokesperson Carrie Gadsby.
“In keeping with this vision, the district has taken a leadership role in reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions within its own operations. A green fleet is a highly visible indicator of an organization’s values,” she said.
In 2019, the district fleet included one full battery EV, two plug-in electric vehicles and one hybrid vehicle for a total of four lower-emission vehicles. Since 2020, three internal combustion vehicles have been replaced with EVs and an additional 11 vehicles have been replaced with hybrid models.
Adopted in 2016, the district’s corporate energy and emissions plan identified actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including transitioning its vehicle fleet to electric where possible.
“This continues to be one of the most effective ways to reduce corporate emissions, and it’s the right thing to be doing,” Gadsby added.
The Ford F-150 Lightning became available on the market in 2021. One was budgeted and ordered by the district in that year, and was received in late 2022.
More EVs are on the way, Gadsby said. The district expects five more F-150 Lightnings to be in hand by the end of this year, as well as one more PHEV, one EV car and one EV van.
