By 2030, the approximately 500 light vehicles owned and operated by Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), from police cruisers to pickup trucks, will be electric. At least, that’s the plan.
“We have six years left,” says Kevin Boutilier, HRM’s clean energy director. “We also have a lot of momentum and a lot of support in terms of funding.”
This funding comes from the Climate Action Tax, instituted in the 2022-23 fiscal year and which provides $18 million per year; Approximately $3 million is allocated to fleet electrification.
Money may not be an obstacle, but the vehicle supply chain, Boutilier says, is another story.
“It’s been very difficult for us to get electric vehicles,” he says. “We put out tenders and some come back with nothing.”
Electric vehicles, he says, are in such high demand and in such short supply that many dealers prefer to sell them in parts, rather than participate in an onerous bidding process. So while Boutilier and his colleagues are trying hard to match the right electric vehicles with the right municipal departments, they are also limited by what is available. So far, they have purchased 30 electric vehicles, with an additional 30 on order, including Ford’s E-Transit Van, Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, and Hyundai’s electric Kona and Ioniq.
Supply issues aside, Boutilier is still hopeful of meeting targets.
“I’m very optimistic,” he says. “I feel like 2030 is within our reach.”
And HRM is not alone in its push toward electrification. The Lunenburg District Municipality (MODL) also aims to electrify its light vehicle fleet by 2030 and has already purchased two Volvo XC40s, two Ford F-150 Lightnings and a Ford Mustang Mach-E, most of which are employ in their Building and Fire Inspection Services. An additional seven electric vehicles have been included in its five-year capital investment plan, which should be enough to meet its 2030 target.
Municipalities across the province are transitioning to electric vehicles as quickly and smoothly as a challenging market allows.
“We have to be innovative,” says Kacy DeLong, MODL council member for District 8. “At this stage of the climate crisis, if we are not part of the solution, we are not doing our job.”
Colchester Borough Council has committed to having an all-electric light vehicle fleet by 2035, a fleet that currently consists exclusively of half-tonne and three-quarter-tonne trucks – 21 in total. Like their neighbors in HRM, they have found it difficult to navigate the market. Electric vehicle orders can take months and sometimes years, delays that have proven prohibitive each time a truck needs to be replaced.
“That’s been kind of a barrier,” said Joanna Burris, a Colchester sustainability planner. It hopes to overcome the problem with an electric vehicle purchasing policy, allowing the municipality to order replacement electric vehicles much sooner than planned. That way, the new electric vehicle will be present and taken into account when an existing Dodge Ram 1500 or Chevy Silverado 2500 reaches the end of its useful life.
“Buying them casually hasn’t worked,” Burris says. “We really need a policy.”
Kings County is approaching its transition more flexibly. Instead of setting deadlines, they have simply committed to purchasing the “greenest” option available when purchasing new vehicles. In the absence of sufficient charging infrastructure across the county, that means hybrids, such as the Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-90 and Ford F-150. Five of these hybrids have already entered the fleet and, unlike electric vehicle equivalents, were relatively easy to obtain.
“Once we have the charging infrastructure, we will move from hybrids to electric vehicles,” says Zobia Jawed, director of environmental services and climate resilience. A change that is expected to occur in 2025.
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), unlike the rest of Nova Scotia, is starting with its largest vehicles and working its way down. The influx of international students to Cape Breton University (CBU) in Sydney has increased demand for public transport, and the municipality thought that if it bought new buses, they could also be electric.
“We consider battery electric buses to be the best way to meet current and future transportation demand in our area, while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions,” says Raymond Boudreau, senior public works manager for the municipality. .
By 2040, and with a combination of federal, provincial and municipal dollars, they plan to have electrified their entire fleet of 23 buses, with an initial purchase of six buses planned for 2027. They have not yet decided on a make and model. , but the estimated cost will be $800,000 to $1.1 million per bus, depending on range.
Electrification is sweeping Nova Scotia, but Halifax remains the biggest player in both budget and ambition. In the same timeframe as its light vehicle fleet, HRM has committed to electrifying heavy equipment like snowplows, and in this pursuit, Kevin Boutilier is less optimistic. As far as he knows, he says, no one makes electric snow blowers, but he says he’s “keeping his eyes on the market.”
Public transportation is a different story. HRM has 60 electric buses on order from Quebec company Nova Bus, and they are expected to be delivered this fall. But on March 4, they announced an even bigger project: the construction of a new high-speed ferry terminal adjacent to the chronically congested Bedford Highway (to be located at Mill Cove), which will connect Bedford to downtown Halifax via of five electric ferries. It is an initiative to reduce carbon emissions and traffic in one fell swoop and is expected to become operational in fiscal year 2027-28.
“We may be a dot on the map,” Boutilier says, “but we have a responsibility to do everything within our power and fiscal resources to decarbonize while making our city more resilient in the process.”
Climate Story Network is an initiative of Climate Focus, a nonprofit organization dedicated to covering stories about community-driven climate solutions.