4,000 Electric Vehicles To Be Leased by US Army

by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 12. 1.08

photo: Native American Biofuels

Considering that many of its higher profile vehicles really suck fuel like there’s no tomorrow, you may not think that the US military concerned itself much with reducing fuel usage, but based on a recent announcement that’s apparently not the case.

According to Army Times, the Army will be deploying 800 Neighborhood Electric Vehicles next year for on-base transportation. That will be expanded to 4,000 over the next three years with “at least 10,000 vehicles overall” to be deployed eventually. So, just how much fuel will this save? Read on:

11.5 Million Gallons of Fuel Saved
According to deputy assistant Army secretary for energy and partnerships Paul Bollinger, the 4,000 35 mph electric NEVs will save some 11.5 million gallons of fuel annually. And instead of spending on average $2400 per year on fuel for the vehicles the NEV will be replacing, it will have to spend only $400 for the electricity to power the NEVs.

The electric NEVs will be supplied by E-Z-Go, Native American Biofuels International , and other unspecified sources. The first of the vehicles will be leased on an annual basis from Native American Biofuels. At some point the Army may purchase the vehicles outright. The first of the vehicles are expected to be deployed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia by December 15th of this year.

That’s Less Than a Day’s Fuel Consumption
Good on the Army for thinking about electric vehicles, but to put some perspective on the amount of fuel saved by this move consider this: The yearly savings of all these electric vehicles is less than one day’s overall fuel consumption of 340,000 barrels of oil.

via: Army Times