Department of the Army
Army plans to lease thousands of neighborhood electric vehicles
The Army accepted its first six neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) during a ceremony held January 12, 2009 at Fort Myer, Virginia. Delivery of the six battery-powered NEVs represents the beginning of a leasing action by the Army to obtain more than 4,000 of the vehicles. The NEVs will be used on Army posts for passenger transport, security patrol, and maintenance and delivery services.
Secretary of the Army Pete Geren stated that the service will receive a total of 800 NEVs in 2009, and an additional 1,600 of the vehicles in both 2010 and 2011. The vehicles will help the Army save money in both vehicle purchase and in fuel savings. Though there will be a small cost associated with installing infrastructure to charge the vehicles (approximately $800,000 total), that cost will be eclipsed by the savings, Geren said.
The Army's acquisition of the NEVs constitutes not just the largest acquisition of electric vehicles for the military, but also the largest acquisition of electric vehicles in the United States. "The Army operates almost 68,000 non-tactical vehicles... approximately 28,000 of those are sedans or light trucks — these vehicles are good candidates for replacement by additional or other varieties of electric vehicles," Geren said.
The NEVs are street-legal in nearly all 50 states on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less. The cars can travel approximately 30 miles on one eight-hour charge, and according to the manufacturer, the comparative fuel cost is about two cents per mile.
"We're going to save a lot of energy with these," said Lt. Col. Cameron A. Leiker, garrison headquarters command, battalion commander at Fort Myer. "I can imagine seeing these with boxes on the back for guys that do repair work on post. You know there's a lot of places you can go with 30 miles on a post like this."
- Mission The acquisition of 4,000 NEVs will allow the Army to meet 42 percent of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requirement for a two percent annual petroleum consumption reduction through 2015.
- Community "The importance of today's roll-out of the NEVs and my involvement is to show industry that the Army is serious about reducing energy consumption, increasing energy efficiency, (and) exploring alternative fuels and energy, while creating a culture of energy awareness throughout the Army," Geren said.
- Environment By using electric vehicles, the Army will reduce its fossil fuel consumption by 11.5 million gallons over a six-year period. This translates into 115,000 fewer tons of CO2 emissions during that same period.
The initial contract for 4,000 leased NEVs will cost less than the gasoline-powered vehicles they replace ($3,300 less than a gasoline powered sedan, for instance, and $13,000 less than a hybrid vehicle). Additionally, the cost will be offset multiple times by the consumption reduction of 11.5 million gallons of gasoline over the six-year life of these vehicles.
Army News Service, The Northwest Guardian: (253) 967-0171