CarSeekBlog

There’s no denying that, as much as those of us who are pro-environment want it to happen, it’s going to take years – perhaps even decades – before electric cars become de rigueur on American highways. Consumer adoption takes time, after all, and we have a LOT of consumers here. As translated by Hybrid Cars, this means that, “…the environmental benefits of electric-drive vehicles will also have to wait.”

The good news is: government and corporate vehicle fleets can switch to hybrid vehicles much more quickly than the general public, which is why it’s pretty cool that both UPS and FedEx are going green.

Specifically, UPS announced last Tuesday that it’s expanding it’s fleet of hybrid-electric delivery trucks from fifty to two hundred and fifty. These trucks are powered by a system that uses a standard diesel engine in tandem with a battery pack to reduce emissions and save on fuel. The additional 200 hybrid trucks are expected to decrease fuel consumption by about 176,000 gallons over the course of a year (as compared to the same number of traditional diesel trucks). The batteries being used are lithium ion cells, which provide greater longevity and faster recharging than older hybrid batteries.

On a smaller scale, FedEx will be adding four electric delivery trucks to its Los Angeles fleet of 600 vehicles next month, as part of a pilot project to determine if wider use is feasible in the US. The five-ton trucks, produced by Navistar (an Illinois-based company) can travel 100 miles on a single charge, though FedEx’s drivers will be covering less than fifty miles a day. These trucks represent only a tiny fraction of FedEx’s 40,000-vehicle fleet, but the idea behind the pilot is to increase demand for such vehicles, thereby reducing the cost. FedEx has actually been pursuing fuel-efficient technology since 2004, when it added 325 hybrid vehicles to the global fleet. Those 325 trucks have saved almost 34 million gallons of fuel, according to FedEx.

Also getting into the electric truck scene is the U.S. Postal Service, which spent $210 million on 6,500 vehicles last June. Those vehicles are either powered by gas-electric hybrid powertrains, use smaller gas engines than conventional trucks, or are ethanol-capable.

Filed under: Buying Trends, Going Green by Mel