NYPD Goes Electric

Although the Mayor's comments regarding the financial crisis, as well as his concerns pertaining to the health and safety of the New York City residents during this particularly hot weather were certainly relevant and important, I decided to break up my response to the press conference into two parts. This way, the information is more spread out and there's less thrown at you all at once. As mentioned in the previous post, Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a few things that he came to discuss at his press conference yesterday where he was accompanied by Stephen Goldsmith (Deputy Mayor for Operations), David Bragdon (Director of the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability), and Edna Wells Handy (Commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.)

The last and (I think) most interesting issue that the Mayor brought to the table was a big announcement regarding electric vehicles, and their growing use in New York City. The City of New York already has over 360 electric vehicles being used right now for various government-run programs and services. This number is higher than any other city in the country. Tuesday's announcement marked the largest single addition of electric vehicles ever to the city's fleet. This announcement came as part of the Mayor's "plaNYC agenda to create a cleaner and greener New York City," Bloomberg told the crowd.

The Mayor further explained that NYC.gov will soon have its own separate website dedicated to electric vehicles and their benefits (both immediate and long-term, financial and health-related.) The website will not only feature information pertaining to the city's own fleet of government-owned and operated electric vehicles, but it will also be a resource for residents that are considering purchasing an electric car but would like to get more information before making the decision. The Mayor quoted a study in which results showed that New Yorkers (when in the market for a new car) were "20% more likely to buy an electric car once they've learned more about them."

Now, to the specifics. As of yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg reported that the City of New York was "completing receipt of 50 new extended-range hybrid Chevy Volts, 10 fully-electric Transit Connect Cargo Vans, 2 fully-electric Navistar eStar Utility Trucks (with another 8 more Utility Trucks coming in next week, for a total of 10.)

With the addition of these 70 total electric vehicles being added to the New York City government's fleet, the number of electric vehicles being used by the City will increase by roughly 20%. These vehicles will be utilized by the Department of Sanitation, the NYPD and the Department of Corrections, the FDNY, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Transportation, City-Wide Administrative Services, the Parks Department, and the Taxi & Limousine Commission.

The Chevy Volt in particular is capable of operating completely on battery without having to even turn on the "back-up gas engine" for a reported average range of about 40-50 miles on one battery charge. These figures are rough estimates, and can vary depending on the particular driver, the average speed and acceleration, etc. The Mayor made an effort to point out the plans for the Chevy Volt in particular: "our goal is replacing a significant portion of light-duty vehicles which make up nearly half of the almost 27,000 vehicle city fleet with such Electric powered cars, vans, and trucks."

The Mayor went on to explain that on average, these light-duty vehicles each travel no more than about 35 miles total in one day. Of course on occasion, this number might be a little bit higher, but if that estimate is correct, picture it this way.. that means, if the entire current fleet of light-duty vehicles were eventually replaced one by one with Chevy Volts, it would be feasible to say that about 13,500 (50% of the total 27,000 city vehicle fleet) would be using ZERO gasoline on an almost-daily basis. This concept just really blows my mind, but I'm so pleased to see that we have someone in office like Mayor Bloomberg that cares enough about this city and the environment to start to do something about it now, so that eventually we can get to the point where oil dependance is an old habit that nobody likes to talk about anymore. I know this is not going to be an overnight change by any means, but think about how much cleaner the air could be if we stuck to this course of action. It's a fight forth fighting.

Links:

To watch the full press conference speech delivered by Mayor Bloomberg click here.
(the link is working, not to mention ad-free, it's just not large picture or ideal quality.)

For the Mayor's Office official "News from the Blue Room" press release, Click Here.

** The individual vehicle links listed in the above article are reposted here below for your convenience**

Chevrolet Volt........ Click Here

Transit Connect Cargo Van........ Click Here

Navistar eStar Utility Truck....... Click Here

Mayor Bloomberg's 7/12 Press Conference (Part One)

Yesterday, Tuesday July 12th, Mayor Michael Bloomberg conducted a press conference inside one of the New York City Sanitation Department's parking garages. He was accompanied by Deputy Mayor for Operations Stephen Goldsmith, Director of the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability David Bragdon, and Edna Wells Handy, Commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, along with various members of the press. I think my invitation got lost in the mail.

The mayor did briefly touch on a few other topics such as the budget deficit, about which he said the following: "New York City's economy is on the mend of 2008, but defaulting on our debt, I think, would be a huge setback. Now, I understand that both parties in Washington had different plans on how to reduce our debt, and I hope that they can come to an agreement soon, but that debate should not be tied to the debt ceiling. America's good name and credit are just too important to be held hostage to Washington's gridlock, and I hope that in the end cooler heads will prevail and agreements will be reached quickly."

The other important (much more temporary and localized) issue that the Mayor wanted to make sure he addressed was the current heat wave going on here in New York City. The National Weather Service declared a Heat Advisory effective through 9p.m. yesterday. Yesterday got up to almost 100 degrees in parts of the city and with the humidity levels so high, it certainly felt as hot, if not hotter. The mayor went on to mention the 450 "cooling centers" that officially opened Tuesday in Senior Centers, Libraries, Public Housing Developments, Salvation Army Communities Centers, and other various public locations throughout the five boroughs that were not specifically mentioned in his address. A lot of people take this kind of service for granted, but for those that can not afford air-conditioning and/or fans for their home, or for those who unfortunately do not have a place to call home, these cooling centers could mean the difference between life and death (when you consider the risk of heatstrokes, dehydration, etc.) For outdoor options, the public beaches and swimming pools are open to the public from 10am to 6pm. For more information you can call 311 or visit NYC.gov.