Native-led EV initiative launches by distributing millions of dollars worth of vehicles to tribal communities

In the coming weeks Electric Nation will deliver 10 Ford F-150 Lightning pickup trucks, and a Ford Mustang Mach E, all EVs, to six tribal fleets across the Red Lake Nation in Minnesota and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota. Five other EVs will be delivered later.

The project's total value is $13.4 million.

It's the brainchild of Native Sun Community Power Development Executive Director Robert Blake. The idea, he said, was born out of the Line 3 pipeline protests.

"I thought there's got to be an easier way. And I said to myself, 'Hey, electric vehicles are going to become something someday. These electric vehicles are going to become a part of the transition,'" Blake said. "Then I thought to myself, 'What if Native people could lead the charge against the fossil-fuel companies with an alternative of electric vehicles?'"

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/01/25/native-ev-initiative-distribut-millions-of-dollars-worth-of-vehicles-to-tribal-communities