GAO found that despite that executive order, the agencies it reviewed purchased more than 25,000 gas-fueled vehicles in 2023 compared with 5,500 ZEVs. Image: Nick Starichenko/Shutterstock.com
A sampling of 11 federal agencies fell about 40 percent short of their self-set targets to procure zero-emission vehicles for their fleets in 2023, the GAO has said, saying that officials of those agencies believe their ability to meet targets long-run “will depend on factors outside their control, including the availability of ZEVs that match their mission needs.”
The assessment comes amid speculation that the incoming Trump administration will kill the main directive for those procurements, a 2021 Biden administration order requiring that for agencies with at least 20 vehicles, all acquisitions of light duty vehicles such as sedans, smaller sport utility vehicles and smaller pickup trucks must be ZEVs by the end of fiscal year 2027 and that all vehicle acquisitions must be ZEVs by 2035.
GAO found that despite that executive order, the agencies it reviewed purchased more than 25,000 gas-fueled vehicles in 2023 compared with 5,500 ZEVs—the target for the latter figure was 9,500. Some types of light-duty vehicles that agency uses are not available as ZEVs, it said, and agency officials “told us that factors related to charging infrastructure will influence whether they can reach the ZEV goals, including the amount of funding available for charging infrastructure and the pace at which charging infrastructure is installed nationwide.”
Further, “using ZEVs on leased properties can be complex” because of the need to coordinate with the lessor on installing charging stations, and older federally-owned buildings “may need electrical upgrades to accommodate charging infrastructure, which increases the agency’s installation costs,” the GAO report said.
It added: “We found that acquisition costs for ZEVs are higher than gas vehicles and that these costs are generally not offset by lower maintenance costs for ZEVs. In addition, the costs that agencies pay to install charging infrastructure depend on several factors, including the type of charging port installed and the location. ZEVs offer lower fuel costs than gas vehicles, as well as environmental benefits, while officials in selected federal agencies reported that gas vehicles are more convenient to use and refuel.”
The GAO’s findings mirror those of a recent Postal Service inspector general report saying that production and supply chain issues were hampering the USPS program for updating its own fleet, with a focus on electric vehicles. An IG report earlier this year had similarly cited delays in installing the charging structures at postal facilities that such vehicles need.
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