US Army goes green and adds electric cars to its fleet

The US Army has decided to start replacing its fleet of conventional cars, by buying thousands of battery-powered, 35 mph electric cars and light trucks to provide on-base transport. The plans were unveiled last month and Army officials already announced that 800 cars will be delivered next year, with 4,000 over the next three years, with the overall target set at around 10,000 vehicles eventually. The vehicles will be street-legal NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) from E-Z-Go, Native American Biofuels International and other electric-car makers and the fact that these are only capable of doing 35 mph is no object to the Army, because the vehicles will be used only for on-base transportation, and the speed limit on US Army installation is 30 mph.

“The Neighborhood Electric Vehicle [NEV] will be at Fort Belvoir, before Dec. 15. Our goal is to have the secretary there to drive in one of the first ones,” said Paul Bollinger, deputy assistant Army secretary for energy and partnerships. “We are having bumper stickers put on and decals on the doors which say ‘Army Green, Army Strong.’ ” Of course, they’re making a lot of fuss around the ‘green’ part of this decision, but the most important reason is the costs cut, electric cars requiring only $400 per year to operate, while a conventionl gasoline car requires around $2,400.

Army Times (Via TreeHugger)