Army testing electric wheels

[unhappycamper]

Spc. Jacob Landis drives an electric car at Grafenwöhr, Germany, on Tuesday. The garrision is testing some of the new cars for six months to see if they save money.


Army testing electric wheels
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, May 7, 2008

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — A trial of electric cars by U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr this summer could lead to the vehicles being introduced Europewide.

The garrison started using three Global Electric Motorcars, or GEMs, on-post last month, according to Hugh Hardin, the garrison logistics manager.

“They are part of a study to determine how feasible it is to replace certain petrol or diesel-powered vehicles in our fleet,” he said Tuesday.

The cars are leased for a six-month trial — at a total cost of $13,000 for the three cars — to compare their performance to that of conventional cars and trucks used by the Army in Bavaria, he said.

If the GEM vehicles perform well, they could be adopted by other garrisons all over Europe, garrison spokesman Franz Zeilmann said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54601