Waterloo launches fleet of electric inspection vehicles

The City of Waterloo is pleased to announce that the Building Standards inspection fleet is now entirely electric. This is a significant step in gradually converting the City’s light duty fleet to electric vehicles, an initiative help meet the City’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.  

“We believe that this is the first building inspection fleet in Ontario to be entirely electric,” said Mayor Dave Jaworsky. “Staff put a lot of effort into selecting a vehicle that would be environmentally friendly, cost effective, and still the right fit for the job.” 

The six new Hyundai Kona Electric SUVs meet the safety and performance requirements of the inspection fleet, while supporting the City’s commitment to environmental and economic sustainability. Benefits of the new electric inspection vehicles include: 

• No greenhouse gas emissions.
• Minimal vehicle maintenance requirements and costs.
• Elimination of lost staff time from driving vehicles to City fueling stations, or trading off vehicles for servicing. 

The vehicles use Level 1 (standard 120 V household outlet) charging, and don’t require any special charging infrastructure. Overnight and weekend charging is expected to be more than enough for their daily use. With lower operating and maintenance costs for these vehicles, the City expects the overall financial impact of this new fleet to be the same or even better than a gasoline powered fleet within five years. 

For more information, please visit waterloo.ca   

Media contact: 

Cari Howard
Manager, Corporate Communications
City of Waterloo
cari.howard@waterloo.ca