Shire of Denmark starts transition to zero-emission vehicle fleet with first electric car

The Shire of Denmark has acquired its first electric car, marking its first step towards reducing carbon footprint for the south coast shire.

The new addition to the fleet is a white Hyundai Ioniq hatchback that is fully electric and generates zero emissions.

The Shire plans to make all of its future fleet vehicles electric cars, with the next addition to be a Tesla Model 3 later this month.

Shire president Ceinwen Gearon said the council was proud to be taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint.

“This is our first step towards a transition of our corporate fleet towards electric vehicles,” she said.

“When we adopted our sustainability strategy in March 2021, we committed to work towards a net-zero emissions target as an important step towards tackling climate change — specifically to reduce the carbon footprint for the fleet or corporate vehicles, so we’re excited to be delivering on that promise already.”

In 2021, nearly 9000 electric vehicles were sold in Australia, according to the latest Electric Vehicle Council report.

Despite the steady growth in electric car popularity, Australia’s adoption of the zero-emission vehicles lags behind many countries.

Norway is leading the electric vehicle uptake with those sales making up three-quarters of all light vehicles sold in 2020.

Cr Gearon said it was pleasing that the council voted unanimously to make the switch to electric fleet cars.

“We committed to taking a leadership role in the community on initiatives which will reduce the carbon footprint of our community,” Cr Gearon said.

“I hope by demonstrating that these purchases not only make sense from an environmental standpoint, but also financially ... that more and more members of our community consider making the change to electric vehicles when it comes time to trade in their own vehicles.”