Skip to main content

Electric Vehicle Pilot Program

 

To further the president’s goals of reducing the country’s dependence on oil imports by one-third by 2025 and putting 1 million advanced technology vehicles on the road, today the U.S. General Services Administration launched the government’s first Electric Vehicle Pilot Program. The pilot is a targeted investment to incorporate electric vehicles and charging infrastructure into the federal government’s vehicle and building portfolios as a first step to growing the number of electric vehicles in the federal fleet over time. The initial government investment in electric vehicles will support the burgeoning EV market. The electric vehicle pilot supports a presidential memorandum, also announced today, that requires all new federal vehicle purchases to be clean, alternative-fueled vehicles by 2015. The memorandum and Electric Vehicle Program will aid federal agencies in implementing Executive Order 13514 on federal sustainability, which requires a 30 percent decrease in petroleum consumption.

GSA's EV Pilot Program

  • One hundred sixteen plug-in electric vehicles will be leased to 20 agencies, including the departments of Energy, the Navy, and the Treasury.
  • The vehicles will be in five cities: Washington; Detroit; and Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, Calif.
  • GSA will work with agencies to install charging infrastructure in federal buildings in the five pilot cities.
  • The pilot will integrate electric vehicle technology and charging infrastructure into the federal fleet and federal buildings to the best ways to use the technology in the federal fleet.
  • The 116 electric plug-in vehicles being deployed in the  pilot are expected to annually save almost 29,000 gallons of gas, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 257 metric tons, and save taxpayers almost $116,000 in fuel costs.

Background

The federal government is the nation’s largest vehicle fleet operator, with more than 600,000 vehicles. In addition to procuring vehicles for about two-thirds of the federal fleet, roughly 65,000 vehicles a year, the U.S. General Services Administration also owns and leases about 210,000 vehicles to federal agencies.

Over the past two years, GSA procured vehicles that were on average almost 25 percent more fuel-efficient than the vehicles they replaced. Last year alone, GSA led the way to doubling the number of hybrid vehicles in the federal fleet without increasing the overall number of vehicles owned by the federal government. Currently, roughly 50 percent of GSA's 210,000 leased vehicle are alternative fuel vehicles.

In September 2010, the GSA released a solicitation for bids on plug-in electric vehicles. Three contracts were awarded – the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan Leaf, and THINK City. The electric pilot vehicles – 101 Volts, 10 Leafs, and five THINK vehicles – are being procured through the awarded contracts.

For more information on this presidential memorandum, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/presidential-memoranda

For more information on GSA’s initial plug-in electric vehicle purchase, visit http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/281789

For more information on Executive Order 13514, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/sustainability