2.3. ERMUSR 09-10-2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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provided marketing resources, but the local dealership was not able to stock or service electric vehicles.This limited the ability of Elk River Municipal Utilities to provide local educational opportunities.To overcome this challenge, ERMU worked with statewide and national user groups, and non-governmental organizations such as the Great Plains Institute, American Lung Association, and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to provide educational opportunities locally. Social media experienced tremendous growth as a result of this project. When applying for the American Public Power Association grant, Elk River Municipal Utilities did not have a significant social media presence.The original plan was to leverage the City of Elk River's social media platform for the electric vehicle program. Early on it was determined that there was great need for Elk River Municipal Utilities to increase its social media presence and create a new brand for the program to be recognizable and successful. Electric vehicle owners are technologically advanced and it's almost a requirement that an electric vehicle owner have a smartphone connected to social media to receive public charging network information. Elk River Municipal Utilities created the EV/ER Power Your Future logo and tagline for marketing purposes. The results of the Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment completed by Fleetcarma resulted in the evaluation of two electric vehicles. Elk River Municipal Utilities purchased a battery electric Chevrolet Bolt, and the City of Elk River leased a plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander.The suitability assessment was completed after tracking the driving patterns of 20 vehicles for nine months.The data tracked included: daily driving distances, idle times, starting and stopping tendencies, and average speeds.The results of the suitability assessment provided analytical data that supported incorporating electric vehicles in the Utilities and City fleets. One key finding was that the Utilities and City would experience an estimated a total cost of ownership savings of approximately$76,000 if all eight vehicles best suited for electrification were converted. The suitability assessment was a great starting point for the electric vehicle evaluation, but there were a couple of areas that needed to be addressed operationally.The cost of charging equipment was not included in the total cost of ownership study.This could be a significant cost depending on the type of charging equipment purchased.There were also challenges with the types of electric vehicles that were listed as options to replace pickup trucks. Based on how field staff uses their pickup trucks, changing to a plug-in hybrid or battery electric was not feasible for towing and off-road needs. The suitability assessment was a valuable tool to determine the feasibility of implementing electric vehicles and how to manage fleet purchases in the coming year to utilize more electric vehicles, either battery or plug-in hybrid. 2 41