With the help of grant funds, the City of Aurora, Colo., plans to introduce a total of 17 plug-in hybrid and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to its fleet this year.
The city says its first three new vehicles, Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids, entered service last week for use as employee motor pool cars. Later this year, the city plans to purchase even more plug-in hybrids: three for the city's police department, three for its fire department and one for its finance department.
The city says a Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) Charge Ahead Colorado grant funded most of the city's costs to upgrade from a standard gasoline-powered vehicle to this plug-in electric hybrid, saving the city up to $8,260 per vehicle. The city also notes this same grant helped fund two electric vehicle charging stations installed in early 2014 in the Aurora Municipal Center garage. Additional charging stations will be installed later this year.
Also this year, the city says it is set to buy seven CNG flex-fuel Ford 4×4 super-duty pickups: one for Aurora Water, two for the parks, recreation and open space department, and four for the public works department.
The city says it is applying for a RAQC Alt Fuels Colorado grant to help defray the cost of purchasing CNG vehicles versus conventional fuel vehicles, which amounts to up to $7,000 more per truck.
The city added its first alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid Toyota Priuses, back in 2001 as a city motor pool cars.
