egmCarTech

In a move funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government spent $287 million replacing 17,205 government vehicles with more fuel-efficient cars and SUV’s. The government followed one basic rule when making their purchases; each car purchased must have a higher EPA rating than the one it replaced. Every car purchased was also straight out of Detroit.

Not every vehicle purchased though was a gas-sipper. There were a few Chevy Silverado’s and Ford F-150’s obtained by the government, but a small environmentally friendly car isn’t practical for every application.

8,598 of the purchased vehicles are traditional gas-powered vehicles with better fuel-economy, 3,100 are hybrids, and 5,500 can run ethanol fuel.

The Government Services Administration made the purchases on behalf of the government and received some pretty good prices. The F-150 ran $13,798 and the Colorado cost $15,099. That translates to a 57% discount on the F-150 and approximately 10% on the Colorado. Ford also offered a discount of of 25% on the Escape Hybrid, and 7% on the Fusion Hybrid.

Also purchased were, five compressed natural gas buses and 35 hybrid buses.

- By: Stephen Calogera

Source: KickingTires

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