WHITE PLAINS, NY – The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has purchased two all-electric trucks as part of a new pilot program the agency has launched with its power provider, the New York Power Authority (NYPA). 

The new electric trucks, manufactured by Smith Electric Vehicles, were unveiled Dec. 13 at a ceremony at NYCHA’s Long Island City warehouse facility in Queens. 

NYCHA’s Emergency Services and Supply Chain Operations departments will use the trucks for 12 months before NYCHA and NYPA decide whether to expand the electric truck pilot program.

The NYPA is partially funding the project through a grant. NYCHA’s general services department was instrumental in forging the initiative with NYPA and Smith Electric Vehicles.

The fuel cost per mile for the electric trucks is expected to be less than what NYCHA spends to operate diesel trucks, said Guy Sliker, director of renewable energy resources and technology at NYPA. Both NYCHA and NYPA will closely monitor the trucks’ performance and environmental benefits during the pilot program. 

“NYCHA has a moral obligation to engage in greening this city,” said Margarita López, board member and environmental coordinator for NYCHA. “But if public housing is to survive, it must also become sustainable by reducing costs. We need to prove that this investment [in electric trucks] will work, so we can continue in this direction to save public housing and the environment.”