City gets electric truck

The mayor and other city officials spent part of Wednesday and Thursday test driving the city's newest vehicle up and down the streets of Mountain Home.

No matter how many times they drove by a gas station, they never needed to stop. That's because the vehicle, a pick-up truck, is electric.

"Just plug it in," Mayor Tom Rist said.

Rist said the truck is expected to go 80-100 miles per charge but the city won't know exactly how far it can go until it undergoes a full production test this afternoon, Oct 2.

The city received the truck Wednesday for use by the public works department.

The mayor said the department needed two vehicles replaced this year and the city thought, "why not try electric and see how this works and what type of cost savings and benefits we'll actually get."

The increasing cost of fuel was one of the reasons behind the decision to get the electric vehicle and Rist said the city would make public the actual savings once they are able to calculate it.

The city is expected to get another electric car for public works at the end of the year or early next year.

As far as other departments switching to electric vehicles, Rist said it would depend on how well the vehicles work for the city.

"(It) depends on how this tests out, if in fact it's a real winner for the city and we see some cost savings, definitely," Rist said.

The vehicle, a ZX40ST, was purchased from Miles Electric Vehicles by the council earlier this year.