The Council will continue with the purchase and replacement of 45 electric vehicles on its fleet.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ The Charlotte City Council decided to remove Tesla from the list of manufacturers it can purchase electric vehicles from during Monday’s meeting.
The Council will continue with the purchase and replacement of 45 electric vehicles in its fleet. Council member LaWana Mayfield has been pushing to remove the company since the June 9 meeting, due to the company’s “instability.”
“When we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and putting our employees out in these vehicles and we are using tax dollars to do it, we also have the opportunity to think about the investments we are making on behalf of our citizens,” Mayfield said Monday.
The 6-3 vote came after some heated discussion. Mayfield disagreed with Councilman Ed Driggs’ claims that her push was politically motivated.
“Let’s be objective here, the reason this has been isolated out of this long list is political,” Driggs said. “It has to do with the owner, the majority owner of the Tesla company.”
Driggs added that other companies on the list, including General Motors, Ford and Toyota, have also had lawsuits or recalls against them.ย
Council members Driggs, Peacock and Ajmera voted to keep Tesla on the list.
The City of Charlotte currently has 15 Teslas in its fleet. A spokesperson says the city “does not consider vendors’ alignment with organizational goals” when making purchases, rather focusing on cost and operational needs.
Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X andย Instagram.
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