3 services plan to buy electric cars

[unhappycamper]

3 services plan to buy electric cars
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 18, 2008 12:00:40 EST

Aiming to save fuel and advance alternative-energy plans, the Army, Navy and Air Force intend to buy thousands of battery-powered, 35-mile-an-hour electric cars and light trucks to provide on-base transport, senior Army officials said.

The first of the cars, called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, or NEVs, will be at Fort Belvoir, Va., by mid-December, said Paul Bollinger, deputy assistant Army secretary for energy and partnerships.

The Army plans to order the street-legal NEVs from E-Z-Go, Native American Biofuels International and other electric car makers. E-Z-Go, which is a subsidiary of defense giant Textron, makes golf carts that are listed online at about $1,300 each.

Some 800 cars will be delivered next year and 4,000 over the next three years. Ultimately, “we should be able to go to at least 10,000 vehicles overall,” Bollinger said.

The Army’s plan has persuaded its sister services to jump on board.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/military_electriccars_111808w/%2e