New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces the addition of 50 new Chevrolet Volt electric vehicles to the city's fleet.
Be careful, tooling around New York. The next time your speeding along the 9A – OK, it’s probably a rare day when it’s possible to actually “speed” on 12th Avenue – there might be a Chevrolet Volt silently tracking you.
That’s because the Big Apple is adding 50 Volts – along with 20 other electric vehicles – to its fleets. It is also adding 10 Ford Transit Connect Electrics and 10 Navistar eStar trucks.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the vehicles will help reduce pollution, carbon emissions and gasoline consumption.
Electric vehicles aren’t new to the city’s fleet, but until now, it’s only had electric scooters and golf carts.
“This is the latest and largest-ever addition of electric vehicles to the city’s fleet, which is already the largest municipal clean-air vehicle fleet in the nation,” Bloomberg said. “We will continue to lead by example, but we also must provide New Yorkers with tools to make environmentally friendly choices in their own lives.”
New York departments that will use Chevrolet Volts include police and parks and recreation.
Seeing the Volts in action may help New Yorkers choose to make a green choice for their next car, Bloomberg said.
“When provided with the facts, people become far more likely to choose an electric vehicle,” the mayor said. “Our job is to ensure the public has the facts, ensure they can make their own decisions and ensure that if they want to drive an electric vehicle, we are providing the infrastructure needed. It’s all part of our PlaNYC agenda to create a greener, greater New York City.”
General Motors calls the Volt an extended-range electric vehicle. After a full charge, for the first 35 miles, say, for example a daily trip to work and back, the Volt operates on power supplied by its 16-kWh lithium-ion battery. When the battery runs low, a small gasoline-powered engine automatically starts to extend driving range for another 340 miles on a full tank of gas, meaning the Volt can be used for longer trips, so to go up north. When it runs low, pull into a gas station to fill up.
The eStar and TC Electric are both full electric vehicles with a range of 100 miles and 80 miles respectively.