Delaware to transition some state agency cars to EVs

DOVER — Delaware is continuing to push ahead with its transition from gas-powered vehicles to electric vehicles, starting with requiring that certain passenger vehicles owned by the state must be zero emission by 2040.

Gov. John Carney signed House Bill 9 requiring the state to gradually phase out its gas-powered cars over the next 16 years with 15% of all light-duty vehicles and passenger cars owned by the state clocking in at zero emission by 2026. That number increases in steps over the next 16 years, with half of all passenger and light duty vehicles to be net-zero emission by 2032 The bill does exempt law enforcement and emergency personnel, as well as school officials who have cars designated for take-home use.

HB 9 was originally proposed in 2023 by Rep. Krista Griffith (D-Fairfax) but paused until it was passed out of the House Appropriations Committee this past summer, before progressing to a full floor vote.

As it stands, the state has roughly 3,000 passenger and light duty vehicles, according to the Delaware Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the agency that oversees and manages the state’s fiscal planning and purchases.

Right now, OMB has estimated that there are 1,200 vehicles that would fall under HB 9. Today, the state estimates that 160 electric vehicles are in its inventory and there are 117 charging stations maintained by the OMB.

All told, the state has roughly 20,000 drivers authorized to drive a state car, though that figure includes occasional drivers that rent a shared car for a short period, or drivers that use cars assigned to a specific state agency and drivers that are assigned a specific car due to the nature of their job.

OMB Fleet Services also maintains that cars should be replaced after seven years, or 80,000 miles.

The Delaware Department of Transportation owns its own fleet of cars for its service. DelDOT reports that it has 255 light duty vehicles that would meet under the requirements of HB 9 and it estimates the need to replace 15 cars per year to meet the new law.

All told, HB 9 moves the needle slightly when it comes to Carney’s push to get Delaware closer to the ambitious goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The First State had 925,088 registered vehicles in the state as of July – and the state vehicles that fall under this bill make up less than one percent of total cars on Delaware’s roads.

Last fall, the Carney administration set emissions standards for cars for the next decade. By 2032, 82% of new cars and trucks sold in the state must be electric or hybrid models, starting with the car model year 2027.

In the past, the state has been slow in adopting electric vehicles, and the price point of many has shied consumers from buying, although federal and state tax credits aim to make it more appealing. The average cost of an electric car in summer 2024 was $47,870, according to the Kelley Blue Book, although the market is evolving with more models and used EVs enter the market.

The Delaware Controller General estimated that the cost differential between a zero-emission vehicle and a gas car is between $10,500, per car with an estimated annual fuel savings of $265 per EV.

Dustyn Thompson, the director of the environmental grassroots organization Sierra Club Delaware, said that HB 9 was significant as an example that the First State will follow the regulations, while also working to reduce the car maintenance costs over time.

“We were proud to support HB 9 …. we were thankful that Governor Carney agreed in 2023 that, even though the bill stalled, that he would ensure that any vehicles that were retired in the interim period were replaced with EVs if they were available,” Thompson told the Delaware Business Times. “We are equally grateful that Rep. Griffith kept pushing and saw this effort through so that we wouldn’t have to continue to have this fight in the midst of a changeover in the administration.”