The City Fleet and Energy Security

"As a Marine, Mayor Ballard understands fully the national security threat to our nation from foreign energy dependency and I commend his energy initiative for the City of Indianapolis.”

- U.S. Senator Richard Lugar

On December 12, 2012, Indianapolis made history.

Mayor Greg Ballard signed Executive Order #6, making Indianapolis the first major city in the United States to pledge to convert its entire municipal non-police fleet to electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2025.

Why is Indianapolis taking this step?

As a retired Marine with time served in the Saudi Arabian oil fields during the First Gulf War, Mayor Ballard is gravely concerned that our national dependence on oil compromises our national security.

He aims to do something about it, and he's taking a common-sense, cost-effective approach.

Why is this good for the City of Indianapolis?

Our city is poised to become a national leader in energy security. At the same time, this transition makes good fiscal sense. We currently operate about 500 non-responding sedans. By moving to electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, we'll be saving taxpayers about $12,000 per vehicle over the 10-year life cycle of each car.

That's just the first step.

Snow fleet.JPG Mayor Ballard is also committed to transitioning the city's more than 200 heavy fleet vehicles - think snow plow equipment, trash trucks or fire engines - to compressed natural gas, or CNG. CNG is a viable non-oil fuel alternative today.

Indy will also lead on developing real police-ready electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Indy's rich automotive history makes us an ideal proving ground for innovating police response vehicles.

With plug-in hybrid police cars that get 40-50 miles per gallon while meeting all the necessary power, safety, range and size needs of a modern urban police force, Indianapolis could save up to $10 million per year.

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