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. |