Title page

Contents

Highlights 2

Letter 5

Background 9

Federal Vehicle Fleet 9

Federal Agencies with Responsibilities for the Transition to ZEVs 10

GSA Efforts to Modernize the Federal Fleet 11

Types of Costs for Federal Fleet Vehicles 13

ZEVs Generally Cost More but Offer Environmental Benefits Compared with Gas Vehicles in the Federal Fleet 16

Higher Acquisition Costs of ZEVs Are Generally Not Offset by Savings in Fuel and Maintenance Costs 16

ZEVs Offer Environmental Benefits, While Selected Agency Officials Reported That Gas Vehicles Are More Flexible and Convenient to Manage 22

Selected Agencies Considered Mission, Costs, and Location and Used Multiple Decision-Making Tools When Choosing Vehicles 24

Selected Agencies Primarily Consider Mission but also Factor in Estimated Costs and Location in Choosing Vehicles to Acquire 24

Most Selected Agencies Used Available Decision-Making Tools from Facilitating Agencies and Their Own Tools to Choose Vehicles 26

Agencies Acquired Mostly Gas Vehicles and Reported That Meeting ZEV Goals Will Largely Depend on Availability of Charging Infrastructure and Appropriate ZEVs 30

Agencies Acquired Mostly Gas Vehicles in 2023 30

Meeting ZEV Goals Will Reportedly Depend on Availability of Charging Infrastructure and ZEVs 31

Difficulty Installing Chargers in Leased Property and Limited Electrical Capacity May Also Affect Agencies' Progress toward Goals 33

Facilitating Agencies Have Collaboration and Other Efforts Aimed at Supporting Federal Agencies' Progress toward ZEV Goals 34

The Facilitating Agencies Have Various Efforts to Foster Collaboration and Learning among Federal Agencies 34

The Facilitating Agencies Are Collecting Data and Feedback in an Effort to Improve Their Assistance to Federal Agencies 35

Agency Comments 38

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 40

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 46

Table 1. Characteristics of Selected Agencies' Fleets, Fiscal Year 2023 24

Table 2. Selected Collaborative Efforts by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Department of Energy (DOE), and General Services Administration... 35

Table 3. Federal Agencies Included in Our Scope 41

Figure 1. Composition of the Federal Fleet Affected by Executive Order 14057, as of Fiscal Year 2021, by Type of Vehicle 9

Figure 2. Examples of Costs for Federal Fleet Vehicles (gas and zero emission) 14

Figure 3. Comparison of the Lowest Total Costs for 5-Year Lease of Different Types of Select Gas and Zero Emission Vehicles (without charger installation costs) 17

Figure 4. Agencies' Combined Light-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Orders Compared with Targets and Gas Vehicle Orders, Fiscal Year 2023 30

Figure 5. Different Types of Vehicles Available from GSA, as of March 2024 31

Figure 6. Key Practices for Performance Management Used to Assess Agencies' Efforts 44