New York Power Authority Clean Transportation Update                                January 2004

Hello from the New York Power Authority!

Several months ago, you expressed an interest in hearing about progress on our electric transportation programs and our activities to promote the use of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in New York State. Here are a few of the projects we’ve been working on…

An egg? A bubble? A GEM Car!

A new electric car is hitting the streets in New York State. They’re calling it everything from The Egg to The Bubble. In fact, it’s the Global Electric Motorcar, or GEM, for short. In July, we announced a partnership with Daimler Chrysler to put 300 GEM cars in service in New York State. To help meet a federal requirement to register a number of zero-emission vehicles in the state, Daimler Chrysler has donated the 300 cars to our governmental customers in New York City and Westchester County and to State University of New York (SUNY) campuses statewide. The Ford Motor Company has also donated 30 TH!NK Neighbors for this effort.

GEMs and the TH!NK Neighbors are part of a new class of electric vehicle called neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs). At about half the size of conventional cars, NEVs can carry two to four passengers at speeds of up to about 25 miles per hour. They are “street legal” on lower-speed urban roads, making them ideal for parks, college campuses, golf courses and industrial complexes. They are also ideal as a second car to use for short trips and local errands (which account for about 75 percent of all vehicle miles in the United States). Plugged into any standard 110-volt outlet, they will fully recharge in eight hours.

By year’s end, municipalities and other public entities in the downstate region and some 25 SUNY campuses obtained energy cost savings and the satisfaction of helping to curb air and noise pollution—and the nation’s dependence on foreign oil—right in their neighborhoods.

The Results Are In…

Eighty-two commuters in the New York City area are still participating in the NYPA/TH!NK Clean Commute program they signed up for in the fall of 2001, with many  reporting “complete satisfaction” with the program.

That’s what data collected by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) showed about the program we launched with the Ford Motor Company, the Long Island Power Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to help clean the air in urban areas by encouraging emission-free commuting.

As part of the Clean Commute program,  97 TH!INK City electric vehicles were leased to commuters from Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties for 30- or 24- month periods, and charging stations were installed at their homes and at local railroad stations. Fifteen participants dropped out of the program, most because of a change in their commuting status.

The INEEL report showed that the program was meeting its clean-commute objectives and suggested that as participants become more comfortable with the cars, they are using them for purposes other than commuting. Like GEMs and TH!NK Neighbors, TH!NK cities are made to order for short trips and local errands.

During the one-year period from February 2002 to February 2003, participants drove their TH!NK City cars a total of 150,000 miles, avoiding the use of  7,000 gallons of gasoline. While the majority of the trips were to railroad stations and back, close to one-third were for other family activities.

The data also showed that the clean commuters avoided nearly 5,500 trips that would otherwise have been taken with internal-combustion-engine cars, and thereby avoided emissions of over 6,500 pounds of carbon monoxide and over 3,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides. The complete INEEL report, "Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity TH!NK city Electric Vehicle Demonstration Progam," is available at the U.S. Department of Energy website.

Public Power Partnership Promotes EDVs

As part of Governor Pataki’s efforts to promote clean fuel vehicles and enhance air quality in the Empire State, NYPA created a $1.2 million fund to help the state's municipal and rural electric cooperative systems purchase all-electric and hybrid-electric vehicles for their fleets. NYPA has partnered with the Municipal Electric Utilities Association (MEUA) of New York State in the effort, under which the electric systems can apply for up to $22,000 in financing toward the purchase of commercially available electric-drive vehicles (EDVs).

MEUA members represent 500,000 electricity consumers across the state. Interest in the program began in August 2002, when we displayed an array of EDVs at the association’s semi-annual conference in Saratoga, N.Y. and lent the MEUA leadership a hybrid-electric Toyota Prius to demonstrate the technology. We also sponsored seminars and a “ride and drive” for MEUA members at their regional meetings this year. Among the electric and hybrid-electric vehicles available through the program are hybrid-electric cars, such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Prius, and off-road utility vehicles such as the Taylor-Dunn Electruck and the John Deere E-Gator.

We’re currently at work on a number of other exciting electric transportation projects, which we can’t wait to tell you about. Stay tuned for our next update.