Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
City eyes electric vehicles to cut fuel costs
 |
| Submitted photos Above left, Beloit City Manager Larry Arft examines the inside of a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle. The vehicles can run for 30 to 70 miles solely on electricity. Above right, Beloit City Manager Larry Arft gets into a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle earlier this week at the Department of Public Works. The department is looking at its options for fuel conservation, and these cars are one of them. |
By Krista Ledbetter
Daily News staff writer
City buses run daily, as do police cars. Garbage trucks head out during the week, and snowplows spend hours clearing snow. Not to mention the city street crews that weave through the streets making repairs.
That's a lot of driving.
Needless to say, fuel costs are soaring, and officials in Beloit have started perusing their options for fuel-efficiency.
On Tuesday, representatives from Ozee Cars, a Stoughton-based company that manufactures Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, came to Beloit to demonstrate the benefits its vehicles provide. The vehicles, called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs), run solely on electricity, which means no fuel is needed to operate them. At a cost of about $14,000 each, the NEVs could be a viable option for Beloit in the future, said City Manager Larry Arft.
Arft was able to test drive an NEV on Tuesday, and was impressed with what he saw.
The NEVs, which are a sort of cross between a golf cart and a small vehicle, are street legal, and include all of the functions of a car, such as turn signals, brake lights, a heating system and headlights. They can run for about 30 to 70 miles before recharging, and can operate up to about 25 miles per hour.
“Some ideas for uses that immediately jump to mind would be for the golf course and Riverside Park,” Arft said. “Also in the cemeteries. They would be great for utility hauling and trash pick-up.”
Fleet manager Danny Lutz said with gas prices as they are, something needs to be done. Currently, the Department of Public Works uses about six smaller utility vehicles for similar tasks. Those, of course, use fuel to operate.
“The jury's still out on if we'll purchase any of these in the future, but I think they're pretty neat, versatile vehicles,” Luft said. “It's definitely something new to explore.”
Both Arft and Luft said the city will take a serious look at its options in 2009 for hybrid vehicles to be added to the city's fleet. Doing so is part of Beloit's green initiative, Arft said.
“We're doing some research on alternative fueling options that are available to us, and to see how practical it'd be to introduce those options into our fleet,” Arft said. “Fuel is a huge cost to us, and we really need to find some alternative fuels or propulsion systems, because fuel costs are just prohibiting us at this point.”
That's a lot of driving.
Needless to say, fuel costs are soaring, and officials in Beloit have started perusing their options for fuel-efficiency.
On Tuesday, representatives from Ozee Cars, a Stoughton-based company that manufactures Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, came to Beloit to demonstrate the benefits its vehicles provide. The vehicles, called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs), run solely on electricity, which means no fuel is needed to operate them. At a cost of about $14,000 each, the NEVs could be a viable option for Beloit in the future, said City Manager Larry Arft.
Arft was able to test drive an NEV on Tuesday, and was impressed with what he saw.
The NEVs, which are a sort of cross between a golf cart and a small vehicle, are street legal, and include all of the functions of a car, such as turn signals, brake lights, a heating system and headlights. They can run for about 30 to 70 miles before recharging, and can operate up to about 25 miles per hour.
“Some ideas for uses that immediately jump to mind would be for the golf course and Riverside Park,” Arft said. “Also in the cemeteries. They would be great for utility hauling and trash pick-up.”
Fleet manager Danny Lutz said with gas prices as they are, something needs to be done. Currently, the Department of Public Works uses about six smaller utility vehicles for similar tasks. Those, of course, use fuel to operate.
“The jury's still out on if we'll purchase any of these in the future, but I think they're pretty neat, versatile vehicles,” Luft said. “It's definitely something new to explore.”
Both Arft and Luft said the city will take a serious look at its options in 2009 for hybrid vehicles to be added to the city's fleet. Doing so is part of Beloit's green initiative, Arft said.
“We're doing some research on alternative fueling options that are available to us, and to see how practical it'd be to introduce those options into our fleet,” Arft said. “Fuel is a huge cost to us, and we really need to find some alternative fuels or propulsion systems, because fuel costs are just prohibiting us at this point.”
 |
||
| A chance to succeed |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of beloitdailynews.com.
Submit a Comment
Login below to post your comment. |
Not yet a member? Use the form below to register. |
