INNISFAIL – Town council has approved the purchase of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the first ever for the municipality’s fleet of vehicles.
The decision by Innisfail council follows Red Deer County’s initiative last November to acquire an electric vehicle (EV) and two charging stations with financial assistance from the provincial Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC).
The MCCAC’s Electric Vehicles for Municipalities (EVM) program and Electric Vehicle Charging Program (EVCP) provides funding to municipalities to assist their transition to be more efficient and lower greenhouse gas emitting electric vehicles.
The county applied for both the EVM and EVCP grants and were awarded $14,000 for the purchase of a 2022 Kia Niro EV and $14,000 towards the purchase and installation of two Flo Level 2 EV charging stations.
The Town of Innisfail is also planning on receiving the same financial assistance from MCCAC for the purchase of its new PHEV.
Steven Kennedy, director of operations for the Town of Innisfail, requested town council at its regular meeting on Feb. 13 to approve the purchase of the 2023 Toyota Rav4 Prime SE PHEV for the purchase price of $48,384.25.
The funds for the purchase were to come from the town’s Public Works Equipment Reserve.
Council unanimously approved the motion.
Kennedy said the Toyota SUV will replace the 2007 Ford Freestyle station wagon that will be sold upon delivery of the new unit.
Council was told the town began looking for quotes om January for a new PHEV. Three quotes were chosen for consideration.
They included:
• Ford Escape PHEV at $47,694.00 (base price), and with a $1,500 rebate for a final price of $46,194.00. This vehicle qualifies for a MCCAC Grant of $7,000.00;
• Toyota Rav4 Prime SE PHEV at $53,384.25 (base price), and with a $5,000.00 dealer rebate for a final price of $48,384.25. This vehicle qualifies for a MCCAC Grant of $14,000.00;
• Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV $57,500.00 (base price), and with zero rebate for a final price of $57,500.00. This vehicle qualifies for a MCCAC Grant of $14,000.00
“The difference in the grant sizes is down to the battery size. That's why those are different,” said Kennedy, adding administration's recommendation was to purchase the Toyota Rav4 Prime SE. “The dealership has stated that there could be up to a one year waiting period but they have been getting a number of vehicles coming in where the customers have canceled their orders, so we would get put on that list to be able to look at those units.”
Kennedy acknowledged in his report to council the base price ($53,384.25) is over the budgeted amount of $40,000 but will be under if the town is successful with the awarding of a $14,000 grant from MCCAC.
Coun. Don Harrison asked administration how confident they were about securing the MCCAC grant.
“We've been down this road before with grants. We're all keen to go. We get out there and then the grant falls through,” said Harrison. “So, my question is how confident are we at this $14,000?”
Meghan Jenkins, the town’s director of community services, told council that when staff spoke to MCCAC last November when the town put in its expression of interest, they were told there was still funds available that had to be allocated by the end of March because there was no guarantee the program was continuing past the end of next month into the new fiscal year.
“At that time there was still applications that were being successful,” said Jenkins. “It was just after budget was approved that we looked at it.”
Harrison was also told that the new PHEV’s dealership was in Red Deer and that its maintenance would be served there for the first three years after purchase.
