Friday, September 30, 2011

Light Duty Hybrids Help Guilford County Fleet Operations Cut Fuel Costs in Half

Guilford County Fleet Operations has been actively using their five Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles for almost a year since receiving funds from Carolina Blue Skies project. Each vehicle is clocking in at about 1,500 miles of use every month. The county purchased six Toyota Prius vehicles (one with all county funds) and have converted their entire downtown motor pool to Advanced Technology Vehicles (7 Toyota Prius Hybrids and 2 Dodge Caravan Flex Fuel vans). Staff has been very receptive to the new technology and all are very pleased to see some of the aging vehicles in the motor pool replaced by more reliable and economical alternatives.

Fleet Operations Manager, Shane Inman, is finding that most of the Prius’ are averaging 50 mpg. The Fleet Operations Division uses a Prius Info Card to teach new hybrid drivers and fleet operations staff are also on hand to walk drivers through initial vehicle operation. Additionally, the hybrids use synthetic oil which is now replaced every 10,000 miles instead of every 5,000 miles. This is an additional savings to the county. Visit their project website.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Monroe Oil E85 Event: 10/1 in Waxhaw, NC

On Saturday, October 1 from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm, Monroe Oil and the Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition (CCFC) will host an E85 Fueled with Pride & Customer Appreciation Event at the Fill Good BP in Waxhaw, North Carolina.
Monroe Oil is the CCFC's sole Carolina Blues Skies and Green Jobs Initiative project partner that used project funding for alternative fuel infrastructure installation. The E85 pump (shown here) is operational at the Fill Good BP -which is conveniently located off of Providence Road in Waxhaw.
Please plan to join us at the Fill Good on October 1st! For more information, please contact Emily Parker at eparker@centralina.org or 704.688.6507.
Fill Good BP is located at 2508 Cuthbertson Road, Waxhaw, NC 28173, which is about 45 minutes southeast of Charlotte.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Greenville Zoo Charging Up.



Plug In Carolina has installed two new level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at the Greenville Zoo. The "Made in the Carolinas" Eaton Pow-R charging stations just two of the forty electric vehicle charging stations being installed in South Carolina from the Carolina Blue Skies and Green Job Initiative. Zoos and other entertainment locations are ideal locations for electric vehicle charging stations due to the relatively long parking times for patrons. Electricity for patrons using the electric vehicle charging stations is free. For more information about these or other charging stations in South Carolina, feel free to contact Andrew Epting at aepting@energy.sc.gov or 803-737-4082.