US president Barack Obama yesterday issued a call to federal agencies to gear up to purchasing 100% alternative fuel vehicles by 2015 and cut petrol use 30% by 2020.

The move is the latest towards the Obama Administration’s aim to cut oil imports by 30% by 2025 and put one million advanced fuel vehicles on the road by 2015.

Federal agencies have been specifically directed to develop practices that will enable them to buy alternative fuel passenger vehicles and light trucks, allow them to determine their optimal fleet size and have a plan for the size and type of fleet that will be in place by 2015.

In support of that drive, the General Services Administration (GSA) also announced yesterday the purchase of 100 electric vehicles as a pilot project.

The Chevrolet, Nissan, and Think City vehicles will be leased to 20 agencies, including the Department of Energy, in Washington DC, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

The vehicle models were chosen through a bidding process, based on technical capability, management capability, performance, and price. Other manufacturer’s vehicles could be added to the pilot at a later date, according to the GSA.

“As the nation’s largest vehicle fleet operator, the President's fleet management directives and GSA's electric vehicle pilot will cut the Federal fleet's petroleum use and support the development of domestic, clean energy technologies,” said Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

For further information:
www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/24/presidential-memorandum-federal-fleet-performance
www.gsa.gov/portal/content/281581

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