City officials cut the ribbon on charging stations on City Island and new city electric vehicles.
When it comes to making environmentally friendly choices, Harrisburg is stepping on the gas, well, electric.
On Thursday, city officials unveiled electric vehicle charging stations in the City Island Garage and showed off two new hybrid vehicles that they’ve added to Harrisburg’s fleet.
“We are really excited about this,” Mayor Eric Papenfuse said. “We are looking forward to converting our city fleet in the years to come.”
Through a $36,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s “Driving PA Forward” program, Harrisburg was able to install eight charging stations for both city and public use.
Harrisburg received a similar grant from the state DEP in February 2020 for charging stations on N. 3rd Street.
Harrisburg will utilize the City Island charging stations for the two new 2020 Ford Escape hybrid plug-in vehicles it purchased. The shiny white cars will replace two 12-year-old city vehicles, according to Fleet Manager Nick Fisher.
Over the next five years, they hope to add 10 EV cars each year, he added. Each year, the hybrid Ford Escapes will save the city around $460 per vehicle, compared to a gas-only Ford Escape.
The new cars compared to the 12-year-old cars will save around $1,300, according to the city.
This, Papenfuse said, isn’t just money in the pocket of the city, but of residents, as well.
“It’ll be real savings for the taxpayers, and we are excited to launch it,” Papenfuse said.
The city’s hybrid cars will require charging every night, said Sustainability Coordinator Chris Nafe.
The public can use the City Island Garage stations on Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Nafe and Papenfuse demonstrated how to use the stations, utilizing the ChargePoint app. Each hour of charging costs 72 cents per hour.
Converting to electric vehicles is just one of the ways Harrisburg is going green, Nafe explained.
They also are in the process of working with Harrisburg University and the Department of Environmental Protection on a “Climate Action Plan” with the goal of reducing greenhouse gases.
“These are the kinds of programs that we are looking at continuing and expanding going forward as part of the Climate Action Plan,” Nafe said of the electric vehicle conversions.
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