Round Rock begins incorporating EVs into city fleet, expands access to charging stations
ROUND ROCK, Texas - The impact of Tesla and Rivian creating a bit of an electric vehicle hub in Central Texas does not go amiss in Round Rock.
"With Tesla coming into Texas and with Rivian just getting all the new ones, with Ford being right up the street with the new lightning's, if you look around, you almost can’t drive around without seeing an electric vehicle today," said Chad McDowell, the General Services Director for the City of Round Rock.
Even outside some of the City of Round Rock's offices, electric vehicles are parked outside.
"So far, just the initial use shows there’s going to be a niche for them in our city," said McDowell.
The city recently added 14 vehicles to its fleet of about 700 gas-powered vehicles.
"The moving parts on an EV are so limited that we do believe these will help with our maintenance schedules down the road," said McDowell.
Vehicles went to several departments including utilities, environmental, and building and construction.
It was all based on what vehicles were coming up on replacements.
"There’s no preferential treatment," said McDowell. "There’s no ‘we’re going to assign it just because.’ We’re really just replacing them, and we want to spread them throughout the city."
The introduction to EVs in Round Rock is a one-year pilot program.
"Are they everything that we thought they would be?" said McDowell.
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Whether or not the city will move forward with expanding the number of EVs in its fleet, it's already captured enough interest from some Round Rock drivers.
So much so, the city installed six new charging stations at the public library.
It's free for the first two hours.
But the introduction of EVs into the city’s fleet doesn’t necessarily mean Round Rock is looking to go all-electric.
"I think they will serve a purpose, and I think they will have low maintenance that we can pass on that cost savings to the citizens," said McDowell. "I don’t believe they’re the all-in, we have to have all-electric. I don't think we’d ever want to go that route."