AT&T Builds Towards 15000 CNG Trucks

This past Thursday, telecom giant AT&T re-committed to its stated goal of putting 15,000 CNG-powered vehicles into operation by 2018, reaching the milestone of 5000 commercial CNG vehicles in service a few weeks ago and putting 274 CNG trucks and vans into service in Connecticut alone (the photo, above, is of Congressman John Larson and AT&T Connecticut’s president, Rodney Smith).

This is all part of AT&T’s bid to improve both its overall fleet costs and reduce the company’s carbon emissions. According to AT&T, their planned alternative-fuel vehicle initiative would save 49 million gallons of gasoline over the 10-year deployment period and reduce carbon emissions by over 200,000 metric tons, which AT&T claims is the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing over 38,000 conventionally-fueled passenger vehicles from the road for one year.

You can read AT&T official press release about hitting the 5000 vehicle mark in whole, below.

Enjoy!

AT&T Marches Toward 15,000 Cleaner-Fuel Fleet Vehicles with Milestone 5,000th Alternative-Fuel Deployment

Five thousand — and counting. That’s the newly-announced tally of alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs) placed on U.S. roads by AT&T since the company embarked on a 10- year commitment of up to $565 million to deploy approximately 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles through 2018, including one of the largest U.S. corporate commitments to compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to date. AT&T deployed the 5,000th vehicle, a CNG van, in Palmdale, California. AT&T currently operates more than 70,300 vehicles in its corporate fleet.

“In a short period of time, with the support of community leaders all over the country, we’ve invested in the deployment of thousands of advanced technology vehicles that promote cleaner air, use less fuel and help AT&T lower its operating costs,” said Jerome Webber, vice president, AT&T Global Fleet Operations. “While some may see just another car or truck on the road, we think these vehicles represent the shared values of the communities where we live, work and play.”

In 2010, AT&T and other large U.S. fleet operators joined in the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities’ National Clean Fleets Partnership as part of a national challenge launched by President Obama to cut America’s petroleum imports by one-third by 2025. Through 2013, AT&T anticipates it will have purchased up to 8,000 CNG vehicles at an estimated cost of $350 million. Additionally, over the life of the commitment, AT&T expects to invest $215 million to replace approximately 7,100 fleet passenger cars with alternative-fuel models.

According to a 2009 Center for Automotive Research report, AT&T’s planned alternative-fuel vehicle initiative would:

- Save 49 million gallons of gasoline over the 10-year deployment period
- Reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons – the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing 38,600 passenger vehicles from the road for one year

More Sustainable Service Garages

Beyond the AFV deployments, AT&T is turning to its service garages to help minimize its environmental footprint and cut operating costs within its overall fleet. These programs include:

- Redirecting an estimated 60,000 old tires annually through a new recycling program that turns old rubber into fuel and consumer products
- Recycling all primary garage products, including 180,000 pounds of oil filters; 200,000 gallons of oil; and 23,000 gallons of antifreeze annually
- Eliminating the purchase of 9,000 pounds of lead annually that were being used to balance new fleet vehicle tires at high speeds

Source: Gas2.0

AT&T orders 1,200 CNG-powered Chevrolet Express vans

A four-tank option enables a 300+ mile range in the CNG Express vans. Click to enlarge.

AT&T has ordered 1,200 Chevrolet Express dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) cargo vans for deployment to AT&T service centers nationwide. It is the largest-ever order of CNG vehicles from General Motors.

AT&T, which has announced its intention to invest up to $565 million to deploy approximately 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over a 10-year period through 2018, will use the vans to provide and maintain communications, high-speed Internet and television services for AT&T customers. Last week, the company announced the milestone deployment of its 5,000^th alternative-fuel vehicle, a Chevrolet Express van, as part of the commitment.

Chevrolet Express CNG vans are powered by a Vortec 6.0L V8 engine equipped with hardened exhaust valves, and intake and exhaust valve seats for improved wear resistance and durability with gaseous fuel systems. The vans are factory-ordered and delivered to customers with their factory-engineered and fully integrated gaseous fuel system in place.

GM offers two storage systems:

• A 3-tank system provides a range up to 200 miles and allows for use of complete cargo area.

• A 4-tank system provides a range up to 300 miles. This system adds a single tank in the driver’s side of the cargo area, just inboard of the wheel well.

The CNG option is available for order on Chevrolet Express 2500 and 3500 Cargo vans. Each van is covered by GM’s three-year, 36,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty and five-year, 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, and meets all Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board emission certification requirements.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, CNG-powered vans can produce approximately 25% fewer carbon dioxide emissions than similar gasoline and diesel-powered vans.

Source: Green Car Congress

Global hybrid and plug-in truck sales will almost double this year

Global hybrid and plug-in truck sales will almost double this year as more companies and public entities turn to advanced powertrains to cut fuel costs, green-technology research firm Pike Research said.

In 2012, hybrid and electric-drive truck sales around the world will reach about 19,000 vehicles and will increase by more than 45 percent for each of the next five years until it hits more than 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2017, Pike Research said.

The increase reflects a combination of a broader range of electric-drive models for utility vehicles and a rebound in the retail industry, which will free up cash for companies to pay more for alt-fuel vehicles, according to Pike Research senior analyst Dave Hurst. Industry analysts have predicted rapid growth for electric-drive trucks because of the potentially substantial fuel-cost savings relative to conventional diesel trucks, which usually get well below 10 miles per gallon.

AT&T, Coca-Cola, FedEx and UPS are among companies that in recent years have stepped up efforts to buy hybrid or plug-in trucks in order to cut both fuel use and greenhouse-gas emissions from their fleets.


Source: Autoblog Green

AT&T to Roll Out 101 CNG Chevrolet Express Cargo Vans Into Fleet

AT&T is putting 101 Chevrolet Express Cargo 2500 vans powered by low-emissions compressed natural gas into its customer service fleet.

Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana CNG storage tanks. Click to enlarge.

The vans get gasoline-equivalent fuel economy of 11 mpg city and 16 mpg highway. Fuel tank capacity ranges from 15.8 to 23 gasoline-equivalent gallons.

Each Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana CNG van is covered by GM’s three-year, 36,000 mile new vehicle limited warranty and five-year, 100,000 mile limited powertrain warranty, and meets all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission certification requirements.

The CNG option is available for order on Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana 2500 and 3500 Cargo vans.

Source: Green Car Congress

BAF Technologies To Convert 600 AT&T Vehicles to CNG in 2009

As we always say here at Alt Energy Autos, these are the stories that are most compelling. When businesses put their money where their mouth is and actually change the current paradigm, then we see positive results. AT&T has already begun converting their fleet to alternate energy vehicles and now they are partnering with BAF Technologies to convert 600 more. These will be pure Natural Gas driven automobiles and will subsequently displace a significant amount of petrol.

From Green Car Congress:

Dallas-based BAF Technologies has begun converting 600 AT&T Ford E-Series vans to dedicated CNG technology in 2009. This is part of AT&T’s plan to invest up to $565 million to deploy more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles over the next 10 years. AT&T expects to spend an estimated $350 million to purchase about 8,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles and approximately $215 million to begin replacing its passenger cars with alternative-fuel models, beginning with hybrids. (Earlier post.)

The converted vehicles will utilize the BAF CalComp System, a proprietary CNG fuel system certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (ARB). CNG vehicles are expected to emit approximately 25% less greenhouse gas emissions than those traditionally powered by gasoline.

BAF’s CalComp system is fully integrated into the OEM powertrain control system. No additional control module is required. The entire gasoline system is removed and replaced with CNG storage tank(s), HP plumbing, a CNG regulator, and new CNG injectors. Control of all CNG components, including the original dash-mounted fuel gauge, is done using the OEM vehicle computer which BAF reprograms to optimize CNG performance.

System features include:

• Closed-loop fuel control
• Sequential fuel injection (SFI)
• Optimized ignition timing
• Maintains original fault codes (DTCs)
• Diagnostics accessed through DLC using original scan tool or any generic OBD-II scanner

In an E-350 van, the CalComp system is integrated with the 5.4L V8 Triton engine. The van, which is certified to the ARB SULEV standard, has a standard fuel capacity of 20.0 GGE and has a limited warranty of 3 years/50,000 miles.

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Mich. estimates that for the years AT&T’s fleet purchase program is operating, more than 1,000 jobs in the United States will be created or saved. In addition to the economic benefits, CAR estimates the new vehicles will save 49 million gallons of gasoline and reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons over the 10-year deployment period.

The new CNG/passenger vehicle commitment follows AT&T’s deployment of 105 alternative-fuel vehicles in more than 30 US cities beginning in June 2008. In addition, AT&T piloted four Ford Escape hybrids, which were deployed in late 2007 in California. Through these pilot programs, AT&T determined that a mix of solutions is right for its fleet and that multiple technologies can help reduce its operating costs over time, while effectively reducing its fuel consumption and impact on the environment.

AT and T Commits to 15,000 Alternate Energy Vehicles Over the Course of the Next Ten Years

Are you ready for some really good news? Heaven knows we are inundated with woeful news every day so this story is a welcome breeze. AT&T has gone on record stating they will deploy 15,000 alternative energy vehicles in their fleet over the course of the next decade. If every fleet in the nation adopted this same policy, imagine the impact.

The majority of new purchases will be compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles with the remainder being hybrids (hopefully the plug-in variety). CNG cars and trucks are a great alternative to gasoline and it is a mystery why their use is not more widespread. Expanding the CNG fuel infrastructure would be easily accomplished and not be too costly, which would help the adoption towards this clean burning energy greatly.

Alt Energy Autos promotes the use of these vehicles and applauds AT&T for making a difference and making a statement to the world.

From Green Car Congress:

T&T plans to invest up to $565 million as part of a long-term strategy to deploy more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles over the next 10 years. AT&T expects to spend an estimated $350 million to purchase about 8,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles and approximately $215 million to begin replacing its passenger cars with alternative-fuel models, beginning with hybrids.

AT&’s investment represents the largest US corporate commitment to CNG vehicles to date. The new deployments will bring AT&T’s alternative-fuel fleet to more than 15,000 vehicles by 2019.

AT&T and other US corporations have a unique opportunity to partner with the new administration as it works to lead the country out of this economic downturn. While there are no easy solutions to the challenges facing our nation, this investment is a first step on our part to help boost other industries while at the same time encouraging wider use and production of efficient vehicles and domestic fuel alternatives.

—Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Mich., estimates that the new vehicles will save 49 million gallons of gasoline and reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons over the 10-year deployment period.

Over the next five years, AT&T will replace about 8,000 gasoline-powered service vehicles with vehicles powered by domestically available CNG. CNG vehicles are expected to emit approximately 25% less greenhouse gas emissions than those traditionally powered by gasoline.

The vehicle chassis will be built domestically by a US automotive manufacturer. AT&T will then work with domestic suppliers to convert the chassis to run on CNG. AT&T will also work with natural gas service providers to build up to 40 new CNG fueling stations across its operating region to provide the fueling infrastructure needed for the new vehicles.

As it begins to retire gasoline-powered passenger vehicles in its fleet, AT&T has committed to replacing them with alternative-fuel models. AT&T expects to replace 7,100 passenger cars over the next 10 years. The alternative-fuel vehicles, which will be used by employees in a variety of diverse work functions across AT&T’s operations, are expected to offer up to a 39% improvement in fuel economy and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 29%.

During the initial phase of the deployment, gasoline-powered passenger vehicles will be replaced with hybrid models. As technologies evolve, additional alternative-fuel vehicle types will be considered for inclusion.

In 2009, AT&T will deploy nearly 800 of the CNG and hybrid electric vehicles. A Green Technology insignia will make the vehicles easy to identify on the road.

The new CNG/passenger vehicle commitment follows AT&T’s deployment of 105 alternative-fuel vehicles in more than 30 US cities in June 2008. In addition, AT&T piloted four Ford Escape hybrids, which were deployed in late 2007 in California.

AT&T has determined that a mix of solutions is right for its fleet and that multiple technologies can help reduce its operating costs over time, while effectively reducing its fuel consumption and impact on the environment.