Officers with several Kosciusko County police departments test drove electric vehicles at Tire Rack’s closed track on Jan. 11, 2024. Photo provided by Drive Clean Indiana.

By Patrick Webb
InkFreeNews

WINONA LAKE — Several towns in Kosciusko County may receive electric vehicles thanks to a Indiana Office of Energy Development grant program.

According to Michiana Area Council of Governments’ Director of Sustainability Leah Thill, the grant funds came through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. Towns will be 100% reimbursed for the vehicles’ costs.

MACOG offered assistance with grant writing. North Webster, Pierceton and Winona Lake applied for grants with MACOG. The EV grants can be used for police, street, utilities, parks and motor pool vehicles.

“We heard of the grant and inquired just at the end of the application process,” said North Webster Clerk-Treasurer Leigh Jessop. “MACOG helped us get everything submitted by the deadline.”

North Webster hopes to acquire Ford F-150 Lightning trucks for their police department. The town also applied for a grant to add EV charging at the North Webster Community Public Library.

“The greatest benefit we see is that our citizens’ tax dollars are contributing to the grant and we would like to utilize that money within our own community,” said Jessop. “We also foresee saving money in repair and maintenance costs.

Silver Lake considered participating in the program. However, the town council on Jan. 31 voted not to pursue the grant over concerns of the reimbursement timeline and reports of charging issues in Chicago.

Thill addressed charging concerns when she and Ryan Lisek, the program director for Drive Clean Indiana, a nonprofit contract partner with MACOG, were invited to speak to the Winona Lake town council on Jan. 23.

“The charging behavior here will be much different than what was causing the problems there,” Thill explained. In Chicago many people who drove EVs lived in apartments and did not have the ability to charge overnight, she said. This resulted in lines during good weather when Thill recently checked a charging app.

Municipality vehicle chargers may be located inside and not available to the public, Thill said. Vehicles will be kept plugged in and preconditioned for the cold. Having the charging stations inside, Thill added, would help avoid chargers being dropped in the snow and not working until the ice that formed melted off, as happened in Chicago.

“This also emphasizes the need to implement charging within the region,” Thill said, adding the situation was more a commentary on charging infrastructure versus EV performance.

Officers with Kosciusko County police departments inspect an EV at Tire Rack’s closed track in South Bend on Jan. 11, 2024. Photo provided by Drive Clean Indiana.

Piereceton Town Marshal Jim Bumbaugh approached the Pierceton Town Council about applying for the grant, with the council approving it. Bumbaugh explained that due to budget constraints, Pierceton keeps equipment for extended periods of time.

“If we can acquire a car for $0 to local taxpayer expense and to not take advantage (of the grant) would have been irresponsible,” Bumbaugh said.

Bumbaugh hopes that if Pierceton’s grant is rewarded, the EVs will help save on fuel costs and maintenance for gas vehicles.

According to Lisek, studies show police vehicles spend 60-70% of time idling to power communications and emergency equipment.

“Their office is their car and they’re in their car eight to 12 hours at a time. They never shut that vehicle down until they’re done with their shift,” Lisek said. “If we can utilize the efficiency of battery electric vehicles, in order to reduce that fuel cost of idling during those periods, it’s a win-win.”

“There’s a lot of success cases outside of Kosciusko County where we have police fleets that are saving $6,000 per year, per electric vehicle,” Lisek said. “And that $6,000 goes a long way when you start talking about these smaller municipalities that don’t have the tax base of your larger municipalities.”

Lisek said that electric vehicles can free up funds used on maintaining vehicles longer to go towards employee pay or investments.

“Some of the big selling points other than just the cost was they would put the charging stations in as well. Not only here at the police station but in the officers’ homes to be able charge at home as well,” said Winona Lake Chief Joe Hawn. Officers with electric vehicles will be reimbursed for electricity cost when charing at home, he said.

Hawn spoke to the police chief of Bargersville, which uses Teslas, and hopes to get two Tesla Y’s and a Ford Lightning F-150. The Tesla Y model, Hawn said, provides more space in the cab for officers and to install equipment. Depending on the data and the EV’s performances, Hawn said the Winona Lake Police Department may purchase more EVs in the future.

On Jan. 11, 50 individuals had a chance to test drive several EV models at Tire Rack’s closed track in South Bend. Lisek recalled the weather was in the negatives and the officers drove the EVs hard. Hawn attended and said “the (Ford Lightning) really tested out well. It was very comfortable inside.”

“At the beginning of the event we had a lot of naysayers,” Lisek recalled. “And I had two police officers who came up to me and said ‘I wanted to be the devil’s advocate and prove this wrong. But I loved this experience.'” He added that the vehicles “performed exceptionally well.”

“Our region is leading by example,” Thill said. In Michiana, “we’re seeing EV interest happen all through our smallest and rural communities. Those are most like rest of Indiana. If it can work there (in an area without a lot of EV infrastructure) it can work anywhere. Others will be looking to our small towns as an example of what’s possible.”

The grant winners will be revealed in a few months, Thill said. After the announcement she expects towns will purchase vehicles within the next year.