pluginaustin

Council Approves Plug In

Austin Chronicle
December 16, 2004
Austin Energy’s Plug-In

The City Council today will vote to authorize the lease of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and related participation with the Electric Power Research Institute in an alliance project to test the potential of the new technology. The item follows a September council resolution supporting the city's exploration of the plug-ins' use in conjunction with Austin Energy's GreenChoice renewable-energy program.

By plugging the vehicles into the GreenChoice grid at night, off-peak power usage can effectively be increased, utilizing wind energy when it's most abundant and hypothetically creating a fleet of wind-powered city vehicles. The Sprinter vans, manufactured by DaimlerChrysler, are intended for commercial and delivery fleet operations and can travel up to 60 miles on a single charge, using 40% less fuel than non-plug-in hybrids.

Austin Energy will test the vans for three years as part of a 30-vehicle alliance with other organizations such as New York Power Authority, Southern California Edison, and the U.S. Army. "Energy security and reduced emissions are critical to the long-term economic health of our community. Participation in the plug-in hybrid vehicle analysis is a small but important step to achieve these objectives," say AE staff. – Daniel Mottola

posted by AE @ 9:45 AM