Watertown looks at moving to electric city vehicles

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Watertown is imagining a future fleet of electric vehicles.

Right now, the closest the city has are hybrid SUVS used by Watertown police.

Moving more into an electric fleet was brought up this week at a council meeting after the governor announced she wants all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state to be zero emission by 2035.

City officials don’t think it’ll take that long.

“It’s open for debate as to how quickly it will happen, but I think within the next decade, you’ll be seeing a majority of electric vehicles on the road. And that means our fleet here at the city have to transition over too,” said Watertown City Manager Ken Mix.

The city’s largest fleet is the Department of Public Works’ pickup trucks, with a few more in the water department.

Mix admits that could make it tougher to make a change quickly because there aren’t a ton of electric pickup trucks on the market right now.

He also says the city could need more charging stations.

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