Obama Administration Buys Electric Cars, Charging Stations

By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

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President Obama inspects the 2011 Chevrolet Volt

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The President may be currently abroad experiencing the horror of European ramps, but his government has been busy at home ordering the very cars its stimulus program has helped to fund.  

The General Services Administration responsible for the upkeep of the federal government’s 600,000 strong vehicle fleet has announced it will be buying 116 plug-in vehicles as part of a pilot project spread over five cities. 

Unsurprisingly, the U.S. government is buying American, with the lion’s share of the purchase order being awarded to General Motors in exchange for 101 Chevrolet Volts. 

President Obama inspects the 2011 Chevrolet Volt

Enlarge Photo

Ten Nissan Leafs and five Think City EVs will complete the order. 

But despite ordering the cars and up to 100 charging stations for federal buildings in California, Washington, D.C., and Michigan before the middle of the year, the Federal Government is not expected to take delivery of any cars until 2012. 

The cars will be placed in 20 locations in Detroit, Washington, D.C., San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and will be used by a variety of departments within the federal government including the U.S. military, the Veterans Administration and the Energy Department. 

If the test fleet proves a success, expect more plug-in cars to be purchased by the federal government in future years as it aims to reach President Obama’s own goal that it would only be purchasing ‘advanced technology’ fleet vehicles by 2015. 

[Detroit News]