As head of the country’s 11^th largest city, Ballard signed an executive order in December requiring Indianapolis to replace its nearly 500 non-police vehicle fleet with electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

New vehicles will be purchased as older ones are retired, and the city plans to completely transition its current 3,100-vehicle fleet to post-oil alternatives by 2025.

Indianapolis already has been recognized by Toyota, Ford and the U.S. Department of Energy as one of the top communities for deployment of plug-in vehicles and charging stations with more than 200 charging stations installed across Central Indiana.

“The movement toward post-oil transportation technology is making considerable leaps,” said Ballard. “These advancements give us greater opportunity to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen our national security interests.”

Echo launched EchoDrive in late 2012, as a bolt-on easy-install system that converts existing fleet vehicles to electric assist, aimed at providing rapid return on investment through easily attainable cost-saving performance.

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