LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said today a new online portal from the Climate Mayors organization will help lower the cost of electric vehicles by enabling cities to bid on them together in larger quantities.
“The clean transportation revolution is not a distant vision for the far-off future -- it's a reality staring us in the face, and it's happening here in Los Angeles and cities across the world,” Garcetti said at a forum on clean transportation he held at Los Angeles City Hall with the mayor of Paris, France.
“Through this innovative platform, Climate Mayors are sending a powerful message to the global car market: if you build electric vehicles, we will buy them,” he said.
The Climate Mayors is a national coalition of more than 400 U.S. mayors dedicated to pursuing environmental initiatives, and Garcetti's office said 19 founding Climate Mayors' cities and two counties have already committed to purchasing 376 EVs as a result of the new online portal.
“It is inspiring to see so many American Climate Mayors committing to transform their fleets into electric vehicles,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who chairs C40, a global network of 96 cities committed to fighting climate change.
“They are part of an unstoppable global momentum for change,” she said. “Thanks to the bold leadership shown by C40's member cities, millions of polluting cars, vans and buses will soon be replaced by clean alternatives. Cities are concretely getting the job done, delivering on the highest goals of the Paris Agreement and cleaning the air that our citizens breathe.”
The Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative was developed in partnership with the Electrification Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes electric vehicles.
“Today's announcement demonstrates impressive and innovative leadership from cities to electrify their fleets. By transitioning to electric vehicle fleets, we are reducing our oil dependency, driving the EV market and taking a critical step towards meeting the goals of America's pledge on climate change,” said Ben Prochazka, vice president of the Electrification Coalition. “We are excited to partner with more than 400 cities to provide the tools and resources needed to make it easier for every city in the U.S. to plug in their fleets into an electric transportation future.”
The forum also focused on the L.A. Cleantech Incubator's 2028 Zero Emissions Roadmap, a blueprint recently developed by the nonprofit with some partners to help accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution before the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The partnership is comprised of LACI, Garcetti's office, the California Air Resources Board, County of Los Angeles, Metro, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison.
“The Zero Emissions 2028 Roadmap is the first milestone of the newly formed Transportation Electrification Partnership, an unrivaled public-private partnership between Mayor Garcetti and our area's top officials and industry leaders to accelerate the clean-up of our air, grow our economy and advance innovation,” said Matt Petersen, president and CEO of LACI. “This regional partnership combined with the Climate Mayors EV Procurement Platform marks a major step in climate action for Southern California and the nation.”