Around 1,000 new electric cars from city agencies will soon be driving all across New York City.
The new cars are being paid for with a $10.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to replace existing fossil-fuel powered vehicles.
“It’s clear that our environment is changing and our contribution to the destruction of the environment is real,” said Mayor Eric Adams.
The new vehicles will be a mix of cars, vans and pickup trucks that will add to the current fleet of roughly 4,000 electric cars the city already has.
Electric vehicles have been the subject of recent scrutiny after reported electric car fires, with blame placed on the batteries.
“We’re focusing on that; we haven’t figured it all out yet,” said Keith Kerman, deputy commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. “This is really new when you start to think about it, but it is definitely on our radar.”
The city has not provided a concrete date as to when these electric vehicles will be rolled out.