geteurdone
01-13-2009, 11:29 PM
orginially posted by Heinz in the Mopar Drives site
Chrysler wins Army contract for 4,000 electric vehicles
January 10, 2009 by Heinz (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?author=1)
Filed under Chrysler News (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?cat=13), Featured (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?cat=1), News Articles (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?cat=3)
(http://mopardrivers.com/md/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/army_strong_wp.jpg)
Chrysler won a contract to supply 4,000 electric vehicles, the biggest order of its kind, for the U.S. Army to use on military bases.
The cars and light trucks will be leased over three years from Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars division, the Army said in a statement.
The six-year leases of the golf-cart-size vehicles will give a boost to Chrysler’s GEM. The division, based in Fargo, N.D., has sold 38,000 plug-in rechargeable cars and light trucks since its founding in 1998.
“The speed limit is 25 or 30 miles per hour on the bases. It doesn’t make sense to buy a car that goes 100 miles per hour, but never gets above 30,” Deputy Assistant Army Secretary Paul Bollinger Jr. said in an interview.
GEM makes battery-powered “neighborhood electric vehicles.” With a top speed of 25 mph, they can’t be driven on highways. The Chrysler electrics will be added to the Army’s base fleet of 28,000 cars and light trucks.
The first batch of 800 vehicles will be shipped in April, followed by deliveries of 1,600 a year in 2010 and 2011.
The purchase cost of the electrics is $10,200 compared with $13,500 for the gasoline models, the Army said. The plug-in models cost $400 a year to operate versus $2,400 for conventional vehicles, Bollinger said. The new electrics will have windshield wipers, heaters and metal doors, making them more carlike than earlier versions, he said.
The vehicles recharge in about six to eight hours through 110-volt outlets. A full charge powers a 30-mile driving range.
The contract is part of an Army effort to cut total fuel consumption by 2 percent by 2015, Bollinger said. The electric vehicles will account for almost half of that reduction.
The side of each vehicle will be labeled with the logo, “Army Green, Army Strong.”
Chrysler wins Army contract for 4,000 electric vehicles
January 10, 2009 by Heinz (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?author=1)
Filed under Chrysler News (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?cat=13), Featured (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?cat=1), News Articles (http://mopardrivers.com/md/?cat=3)
(http://mopardrivers.com/md/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/army_strong_wp.jpg)
Chrysler won a contract to supply 4,000 electric vehicles, the biggest order of its kind, for the U.S. Army to use on military bases.
The cars and light trucks will be leased over three years from Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars division, the Army said in a statement.
The six-year leases of the golf-cart-size vehicles will give a boost to Chrysler’s GEM. The division, based in Fargo, N.D., has sold 38,000 plug-in rechargeable cars and light trucks since its founding in 1998.
“The speed limit is 25 or 30 miles per hour on the bases. It doesn’t make sense to buy a car that goes 100 miles per hour, but never gets above 30,” Deputy Assistant Army Secretary Paul Bollinger Jr. said in an interview.
GEM makes battery-powered “neighborhood electric vehicles.” With a top speed of 25 mph, they can’t be driven on highways. The Chrysler electrics will be added to the Army’s base fleet of 28,000 cars and light trucks.
The first batch of 800 vehicles will be shipped in April, followed by deliveries of 1,600 a year in 2010 and 2011.
The purchase cost of the electrics is $10,200 compared with $13,500 for the gasoline models, the Army said. The plug-in models cost $400 a year to operate versus $2,400 for conventional vehicles, Bollinger said. The new electrics will have windshield wipers, heaters and metal doors, making them more carlike than earlier versions, he said.
The vehicles recharge in about six to eight hours through 110-volt outlets. A full charge powers a 30-mile driving range.
The contract is part of an Army effort to cut total fuel consumption by 2 percent by 2015, Bollinger said. The electric vehicles will account for almost half of that reduction.
The side of each vehicle will be labeled with the logo, “Army Green, Army Strong.”