Army to buy electric cars

[unhappycamper]

The U.S. Army is looking to buy several thousand electrically powered vehicles. One candidate is the Columbia ParCar Mega.


Army to buy electric cars
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 24, 2008 6:59:17 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 Neighborhood Electric Vehicle will be at Fort Belvoir, before Dec. 15. Our goal is to have the secretary there to drive in one of the first ones,” said Paul Bollinger, deputy assistant Army secretary for energy and partnerships. “We are having bumper stickers put on and decals on the doors which say ‘Army Green, Army Strong.’ ”

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.

“We’re excited about this,” said James Cooke, CEO of Native American Bio-fuels International, Arlington, Va. “We’ve been working on alternative energy for about three-and-a-half years. We’ve innovated with Native American tribes all over the country.”

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


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/army_electric_cars_112408w/%2e