Porto Municipality gets eco-friendly vehicles to its existing fleet

The administration of the Municipal Council of Porto approved this Tuesday the launching of the procedure for the international public tender that will allow the replacement of more than 90 percent of the municipal fleet by environmentally friendly vehicles. The proposal was approved by a majority vote, with one abstention.

The replacement of the current car fleet by electric and plug-in vehicles will allow the Municipality to save 600 thousand euros annually, and also half a million litters of fuel.

"This measure will contribute to achieving the decarbonisation of transport fuel" said Filipe Araújo, Environment and Innovation Department councillor, stressing the fact that "by the end of this replacement procedure, there will be a reduction of 2,300 tons of CO2 emissions in the streets of Porto".

According to Councillor Filipe Araújo, this is "the first great public procedure that focuses on electric mobility in Portugal. In this regard, as in other matters, Porto continues to lead and hopefully this measure will inspire other public and private bodies."

For councillor for Housing and Social Action, Manuel Pizarro, this is indeed "one of the most important measures taken in this mandate". The councillor also added that the replacement of the municipality car fleet to an eco-friendly vehicle fleet "is the pride of the city" and places Porto "at the forefront of Europe."

In line with the sustainable transport policy of Porto, the municipality aims to reduce carbon emissions by operating vehicles using environmentally-friendly forms of energy, reducing maintenance and operation costs, as well as diminishing health risks from dangerous emissions.