[Quietcars] federal government getting hybrids?

Wed Apr 25 03:31:03 UTC 2012

Here's the info:
Obama Orders 2,500 Hybrids
Published April 11, 2009
In a win-win move for both the environment and the US auto industry,
President Barack
Obama announced on Thursday that the US General Services Administration
would order
17,600 fuel-efficient vehicles-including hybrids-from GM, Ford, and Chrysler
by June
1. The purchase goal is fuel economy that's 10 percent higher than the
vehicle being
replaced.
While auto sales have fallen 36 percent in the first quarter of 2009
compared to
last year, the government's purchase is still only symbolic, representing
less than
two-tenths of one percent of total US annual sales. But lawmakers from
auto-industry
states like Michigan and Ohio reacted with fervent support.
2500 Hybrids by Tax Day
Obama at SCE
Last month, President Obama visited Southern California Edison's Electric
Vehicle
Technical Center. He repeated his promise to put 1 million plug-in hybrids
on US
roads by 2015.
The first step will be an order for 2,500 hybrid sedans by April 15.
Qualifying cars
include the
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
, the
2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
, and the
2009 Saturn Aura Hybrid
. The Ford Fusion Hybrid received excellent reviews and generated intense
public
interest, but the incremental mileage improvements of the Malibu and Aura
mild hybrids
have neither sparked much enthusiasm nor sold particularly well.
Moving from a full-size sedan like the Chevrolet Impala to the Fusion Hybrid
saves a lot of gasoline
, though. Because gasoline mileage is not a linear scale, converting from
the Impala's
20 mpg to the Fusion Hybrid's 40 mpg saves 2.5 gallons per 100 miles. Going
from
the Fusion Hybrid to a plug-in's 100-mpg-equivalent displaces approximately
1.5 gallons-though
it cuts costs, since driving a mile on grid power costs 3 or 4 cents versus
10 to
15 cents on gasoline.
The total cost of $285 million would come from the $787 billion economic
stimulus
bill passed by Congress last month. A statement from the White House said
the entire
purchase will "reduce gasoline consumption by 1.3 million gallons per year
and prevent
26 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere."
The President also highlighted the program's benefits for the US auto
industry. "I
am 100 percent committed to a strong American auto industry," his statement
said.
Obama called this program "only a first step."
Ford Fusion Hybrid
Thousands of US-made hybrids, such as the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, are
heading to
the federal auto fleet.
Within the total $285 million cost is $15 million that the GSA, the
government's
purchasing arm, will allocate to orders for advanced technology vehicles,
including
"commercially available" buses that run on either compressed natural gas or
hybrid-electric
power. This category also includes all-electric vehicles, which might
include neighborhood
electric vehicles for certain government uses. That order is to be placed by
September
30.
Weighted Toward Small Cars
With at least some vehicles in the order to be expensive buses and
commercial trucks,
the average per-vehicle cost of $16,200 is likely to indicate large numbers
of the
smallest US-built cars.
Even at the heavily discounted rates offered for government fleets, the
order will
likely include US-built high-mileage vehicles with conventional gasoline
engines.
These could include such vehicles as the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2009 Ford
Focus,
and 2009 Dodge Caliber-all of which have seen their sales fall as the price
of gasoline
plummeted.
Sadly for the civil servants who will drive them, some of these cars receive
poor
consumer ratings in their categories. Only the Focus is remotely modern, and
its
sales have held up better than the other two. The Cobalt will be replaced
for 2011
by the new global Chevrolet Cruze, and the aging Caliber received tepid
reviews several
years ago on launch.
Ambitious Administration Goals
The Obama Administration's auto task force is currently pressing GM and
Chrysler
to improve their restructuring plans if they expect additional funds beyond
the $17.4
billion received to date. Obama's goal of creating a viable auto industry
will emphasize
building more efficient cars.
Other policy measures include working with Congress to pass a "
cash for clunkers
" bill, which would subsidize trade-ins of older, less efficient vehicles
for new,
high-mileage replacements. Those vehicles, however, would likely not be
restricted
to US-built models, to improve the array of choices for car buyers and avoid
running
afoul of international trade restrictions.
During his campaign,
Obama pledged to put 1 million plug-in vehicles
 on US roads by 2015. He also said he wanted to convert the White House
fleet to
electric vehicles, and would urge the government to make half of its new-car
purchases
plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles by 2012. But experts question whether
this goal
is achievable, given the huge capital investment required for battery
manufacturers
to build domestic lithium-cell plants and for automakers to tool up for that
volume
of new vehicle designs. 
http://www.hybridcars.com/incentives-laws/obama-orders-2500-hybrids-25704.ht
ml

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-----Original Message-----
From: quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Ken Stewart
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 10:17 PM
To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Quietcars] federal government getting hybrids?

I just received a post indicating that the President apparently has issued
an executive order requiring that a specified minimum percentage of all
federal vehicle purchases be hybrids.  Anyone have any information on this?
If it is so, what advocacy actions should be taken?  How about insisting
that all such purchases have an audible feature that is operable immediately
and configurable to conform to the eventual NHTSA research-based regs?

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