At the second-annual Climate Mayors Summit in Honolulu, Hawaii, 127 cities and 15 counties from across 38 states joined the Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative, and committed to purchasing more than 2,100 electric vehicles by the end of 2020.

The Collaborative also announced plans to place a competitive bid on electric school buses by the end of this year, which will enable all electric school bus manufacturers to offer any public school system in the country access to equal, competitive prices.

Climate Mayors Founder and Co-Chair Eric Garcetti announced the launch of the Collaborative in 2018—an online portal that provides cities with a single, equal price for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure by aggregating the demand from Climate Mayors cities and other public agencies, along with expert policy and planning guidance.

Climate Mayors procurement partner, Sourcewell, will be releasing a new national solicitation for electric school buses by the end of the year. With more than 470,000 school buses operating across the country, lower prices and reduced administrative work will help school systems with smaller budgets provide their students with zero-emission transportation.

In agreeing to purchase electric vehicles through the Collaborative, cities and counties gain access to competitively-priced electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, as well as reduced-cost leasing options through state and federal tax credits.

With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Collaborative is working with the American Cities Climate Challenge, a group of 25 of the largest US cities pursuing goals to cut emissions. American Cities Climate Challenge cities represent about 700 vehicles of the commitment.

Launched in September 2018, the Collaborative is a partnership between Climate Mayors, the Electrification Coalition, and Sourcewell, a national transit fleet transition program that works with cities and other public agencies to accelerate the electrification of national ground transit fleets.