County hybrid fleets go unplugged
When you hear Marion County, Fla. Sheriff’s Department Fleet Manager Wyatt Earp talk about the eight new cars he just ordered for the department, clearly you can tell this is a man in a love affair with cars.
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Photo courtesy of Marion County
Marion County (Fla.) Fleet Manager Wyatt Earp stands beside one of the sheriff department’s hybrid cars.
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However, the and next year Ford has plans to introduce the Escape, the first American hybrid car.
Earp began using hybrid vehicles two years ago.
"Our sheriff bought into this immediately," Earp said. "In fact, he was one of our biggest proponents."
Process servers, crime watch patrols, homeland security patrols and other light patrol personnel, use hybrid cars in Marion County. Earp admits that the hybrids wouldn’t make good squad cars, at least not yet anyway.
Still, he would love to see the cars used much more than what they currently are, not only in Marion County, but everywhere.was some reluctance on the part of those assigned to drive the hybrid vehicles at first, and as fleet manager, he had reservations about the technology that comes with the car. However, with the eight-year/100,000 mile warranty the manufacturer offered and a little bit of time behind the wheel, soon everyone was singing the praises of the hybrid. Earp said the hardest thing for people to get used to is that the car switches automatically from gas to electric when idling at a stoplight or in traffic, and because the car is so quiet when operating electrically, many people assumed the car had stalled.
"First, it’s a getting-used-to experience," Earp explained. "It builds up some nervous tension, but once they get used to it, it’s just like driving acars Earp is extolling may surprise some people. Earp just ordered eight Toyota Priuses to go with the two already in use within the Sheriff’s Department. The Prius is a hybrid electric car that functions partially on gasoline and partially on an electrically-charged battery. The cars are extremely fuel-efficient and also reduce emissions because the electric battery allows for no emissions when operating at the stop and start, and at low speeds. Honda also makes a hybrid Civic regular car."
Employees in King County, Wash. have gotten so used to driving the hybrid cars that many of them request the car when signing out a county car and many more still have purchased hybrids for personal use.
"After having the hybrids in service for a year-and-a-half,
"I would love to see hybrids used everywhere," Earp said. "But what we need is for the technology to work. And really, it’s just taking everything man knows about energy and applying it. It’s not rocket science."
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Hybrid Electric Vehicle Survey Issued
NACo, the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance and the Center for a New American Dream recently released a survey to 500 large city and county fleet divisions. The purpose of the survey is to determine public agency interest in gas-assisted hybrid electric fleet vehicles, including sedans, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans.
Depending upon the results of the survey, King County, Wash. is prepared to issue a national solicitation to purchase these vehicles on behalf of all local governments in the United States. The resulting contract will allow any municipality to purchase the vehicles off a national contract, which U.S. Communities will market to the local government fleets. Survey results will be available in mid-December.
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Earp admitted there we sent out a survey to those who were driving them and had them evaluate the vehicles," explained Windell Mitchell, director of Fleet Management in King County. "And on a scale from one to five, with five being the most satisfied, the car averaged a 4.6. That’s quite significant for a first round of implementation."
King County currently has 62 hybrid vehicles in its fleet, with a plan to purchase more. The cars are used in a variety of departments, but mostly for administrative functions. A mandate from the county council back in 1991 ordered 25 percent of the counties automotive fleet to be alternative-fuel vehicles. For years, the county used compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles and propane vehicles. When converting the counties current cars to CNG vehicles and building the proper servicing stations became cost prohibitive, the council tabled the mandate. When the hybrid vehicles came along, Mitchell was ready to make a purchase.
"Then came the Prius and we said wow, what a wonderful opportunity," Mitchell explained. "There is absolutely no additional cost to the county and we get clean air, comfort and driving range and everything came in one package."
Although the hybrid vehicles cost a bit more, their lifecycle is greater than that of most regular cars, thus balancing out the higher upfront cost.
In Santa Clara County, Calif., the county’s 80 hybrid cars, are used in just about every county department. The cars are especially used in the social services department for social workers and in the district attorney’s office for process servers. According to Richard Simon, fleet manager, the county was one of the first local governments to have a fleet of electric cars back in the mid-1990s.
The county started out with 38 Priuses, which Simon used a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality District to help purchase. Now, the county is focused on buying as many hybrids as feasible.
"Wherever we can replace a standard sedan with a hybrid, we’re doing it," Simon explained.
And Simon himself sometimes hops behind the wheel of one of the county vehicles to give it a spin.
"I enjoy driving the hybrid. It’s interesting, it’s a conversation piece," Simon said. "Every time you drive it somewhere, everyone wants to talk about it."
In addition to being a conversation piece, Simon said there is one great thing people love about driving the hybrids. "You don’t have to plug them in. And people really like that."
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