Helena to Cut Ribbon Feb. 24 on First All-Electric City Vehicle

Helena will hold a ribbon-cutting at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, at Bill Roberts Golf Course to mark the addition of the city’s first all-electric passenger vehicle to the municipal fleet, the city posted in a public notice announcing the event.

The electric vehicle project grew from a city commission decision earlier this summer to fund a pilot program; KTVH reported the commission appropriated $60,000 from general fund cash reserves for the effort. City officials have framed the purchase as a test case rather than a full fleet conversion.

Helena already operates two first-generation electric vehicles: an electric car and an electric street sweeper, KTVH reported, and city staff say the new vehicle will help determine departmental fit and charging needs. “We are hoping to learn how the modern electric vehicle will work with the city’s current processes, what departments it will work for, how it could work for them, and if it does work for everybody,” said Leea Anderson, the City of Helena environmental regulation pretreatment manager, in KTVH coverage.

Operational expectations for the pilot include multi-day use between charges and the ability to power tools on-site. KTVH reported staff estimating the vehicle’s charge should last for around a week of driving, and Anderson noted that “it has the ability to plug tools into it, so we potentially won't have to use generators and things like that.” At the same time, Anderson flagged a top local concern for the pilot: winter performance. “How the cold weather affects it, if it is reduced by half, or what its capacity is,” Anderson said.

Nearby East Helena has run its own electric school bus test, and East Helena superintendent Dan Rispens told KTVH, “It is a little bit of an experiment for us just to try out the technology; it is new and different than what we are used to.” Rispens and other districts in Montana have reported the vehicles “face the winter just fine, though they did notice it does not go as far on a charge,” KTVH reported.

The city has previously said it aimed to introduce a Ford Lightning electric truck by the end of September to capture EV tax credits; KTVH described that as a prior intention but the public notice for the Feb. 24 event does not list a make or model for the passenger vehicle being unveiled.

As a regional example of municipal electric rollouts, St. Helena, California, and the Napa Valley Transportation Authority unveiled five BYD electric vehicles in 2022; NVTA Transit Director Rebecca Shenk said at that event, “These five new electric vehicles are a strong start to NVTA transitioning to a 100% zero-emission fleet,” an illustration of how other agencies pair local pilots with larger transition goals. Helena city staff say this pilot will test charging compatibility at city facilities, winter range, and departmental applications before decisions on further purchases are made.