Windsor's Mayor is asking that council purchase Windsor-built hybrid Pacificas for its building department fleet.
The original report called for the purchase of six vehicles, mostly Chevy Bolts, but Dilkens says there is an opportunity to shop local and still support the city's climate change plan.
"Because the price of both the Chevy Bolt and a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid are roughly in the same price range, it's a good opportunity for city council to take advantage of implementing its climate change action plan while also making sure that we're buying local."
According to Dilkens, the city would qualify for a rebate from the Federal Government for the purchase of the pacificas.
"It's a program that offsets up to $5,000 by way of rebate per vehicle that's purchased, based on the amount of battery capacity and the hybrid minivan actually complies with the rules to receive the maximum rebate," he says. "So if the city does by Chrysler minivans that are hybrid, they will get $5,000 off per vehicle, thanks to the Federal Government."
As far as next steps, Dilkens says a request for proposal (RFP) will be issued.
"All local dealers, in fact dealers all across Ontario will have an opportunity to bid on providing these minivans for purchase to the City of Windsor and we'll take the lowest bidder and we can simply move forward."
Dilkens received unanimous support for his motion and is expecting the RFPs for the purchase of the vehicles to come back to city council some time in the next four to six weeks.