Monday, January 12, 2009

Army Goes Electric

Just got off a Pentagon Bloggers' Roundtable call with the Army's Senior Energy Executive, Paul Bollinger. Primary purpose was to announce the lease of 4,000 neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) for use on CONUS Army installations, each one replacing a standard gasoline powered sedan. Partners include the General Services Administration (GSA) and Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), a Chrysler company based in Fargo, ND. Here are the highlights:
  • Cars go 25 MPH which is fine for most bases
  • Recharge at standard 3 prong, 110 V outlets
  • Army also investigating higher speed electric vehicles for longer distance and off base use
  • May be able to replace a total of 28,000 Army vehicles
  • Large savings on along every vector: lease costs of vehicles, maintenance and fuel. Click here for electric vs. gas powered GSA fleet comparison
Lastly, Mr. Bollinger revealed this nugget towards the end of the talk: the Navy is inquiring about a similar electric car action for is bases and the Air Force may not be far behind. Were both to follow in the Army's footsteps, we could be looking at a DOD total of 50,000 cars. Now that's what I call making a market !!!

Photo: DOD