In today’s age of technology, connectivity and smart-everything, fleets from across the country are looking to use the latest tools and trends to keep their vehicles on the road longer and with lower maintenance costs. Telematics, computers, and analytics have recently helped Cobb County, Georgia, stay on top of their more than 2,300 assets.

“We try to manage our fleet based on a lot of data which we examine constantly, and then integrate it with other resources and come up with a solution. The details involved require some extra time and effort, but in the end, we believe that we do a very good job for the taxpayers,” according to Al Curtis, the Cobb County, Georgia fleet manager.

The county keeps track of vehicle downtime, turnaround time, cost per mile, and other analytics to help make data driven decisions about vehicle replacement. These measures have helped the county identify the worst performing vehicles and reduce inefficient spending.

Aside from improving efficiency, these measures have also helped Cobb County identify the best scenarios for incorporating alternative fuels into their fleet. With this knowledge, Cobb County can determine the best alternative fuels for each duty cycle. This has led to the introduction of hybrid, propane, and electric vehicles into the fleet.

“Our alternative-fuel vehicles have traveled over 150,000 petroleum-free miles with no major problems. We have saved over $246,000 from the reduction in fuel usage, lower maintenance costs, and leasing the vehicles instead of purchasing them.” – Al Curtis.

This blog post includes excerpts from WorkTruck Online. You can view the entire story here.

Are you in the market for a new electric vehicle? Well, now is the perfect time to consider making that purchase.

Nissan just announced special pricing available to Plug-in NC Stakeholders on their 100% electric Nissan LEAF.  Under this new incentive, Nissan is offering a rebate of $10,000 per vehicle. Combine this rebate with the $7,500 federal tax credit and you’ve got yourself a great deal!  These incentives take a total of $17,500 off of the MSRP of a Nissan LEAF. Find out more about the offer here.

We’re excited that Nissan and Plug-in NC have worked together to help bring more electric vehicles to the roads in North Carolina. Stay tuned for more exciting incentives and opportunities like this in the future!

About Plug-in NC: Plug-in NC has been working since 2011 to establish North Carolina as a leader in electrified transportation. A state-wide program, Plug-in NC promotes electric vehicles through education and outreach, consulting and resource development. Plug-in NC also strives to provide a collaborative opportunity for stakeholders to work together to ensure seamless integration of plug-in electric vehicles into North Carolina’s local communities.

Featured Photo courtesy of Karlis Dambrans.

Our partners at Growth Energy recently put together a fantastic website to help consumers find the closest fueling stations that provide both E15 and E85 blends of Ethanol across the state of North Carolina and the entire country. We’re incredibly excited about this resource, as it helps consumers diversify their fuel choices and helps them select cleaner burning options. So why should you be interested in filling up with E15/E85?

Three simple reasons: it’s good for the environment, our engines, and our wallets.

1. Environment – Compared to regular gasoline, E15 is carbon reductive. Each year, ethanol production and use decreases greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to removing 20 million cars from the road!
2. Engine – E15 is a high-performance fuel, with a naturally high octane. It burns cleaner and cooler than regular gasoline.
3. Wallet – E15 gives consumers a more affordable option when fueling up. Today, our country consumes more than 19 million barrels of oil each day – one-fourth of which has to be imported from hostile foreign nations. That costs a lot – and prices fluctuate constantly based on turmoil in the Middle East.

To find out where you can fuel up with E15 or E85, visit www.GetEthanol.com.

NASCAR recently announced that it surpassed 10 million competition miles on Sunoco Green E15, a biofuel blended with 15 percent American-made ethanol. The achievement was celebrated during the NASCAR Sprint Cup SeriesTM race at Phoenix International Raceway. The 10 million miles were accumulated across practice, qualifying and racing laps since the biofuel was adopted by the sport.

Six years ago, NASCAR entered into a groundbreaking partnership with Sunoco and American Ethanol, launching its long-term biofuels program to reduce emissions across its three national series. After an exhaustive analysis, Sunoco formulated Sunoco Green E15 to allow for a seamless transition, and the biofuel made its debut at Daytona International Speedway in 2011. All the ethanol for Green E15 is produced from American-grown corn at Sunoco’s ethanol manufacturing facility in Fulton, N.Y.

“As we approach 10 million miles on Sunoco Green E15 across our three national series, it’s evident that the renewable, higher ethanol blended fuel performs flawlessly against our rigorous racing conditions,” said Brent Dewar, NASCAR Chief Operating Officer. “This remarkable milestone is the result of an industry-wide commitment to demonstrate high performance racing with reduced emissions, while educating our fans about the benefits of sustainable and renewable American ethanol.”

Since transitioning to the biofuel, NASCAR has helped validate the fuel’s qualities in front of an audience of millions of NASCAR fans and is helping shift attitudes and behaviors around the use of ethanol. According to new research conducted in July, when compared to non-fans, NASCAR fans are more likely to support the use of ethanol blended gasoline to fuel NASCAR race cars, their own car, and cars on the road today to increase U.S. energy independence. Source: Custom Environment-Related Tracker commissioned by NASCAR and conducted by Toluna (July 2016).

Please join Plug-in NC to celebrate the efforts that are taking place across North Carolina to support electric vehicles. At the 6^th annual Plug-in NC summit you will learn about electric vehicle activities occurring across the country and have the opportunity to talk with experts about charging station infrastructure, fleet vehicles (including buses) and electric vehicle policies.

The event is free and breakfast will be provided. Seats are limited and registration is required.

Date: November 15, 2016

Time: 9:00 am – 11:30 am

Location: Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center, Chancellor’s Reception Room 220, 2450 Alumni Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606

Register Here – http://www.advancedenergy.org/portal/registration/pluginnc_summit_nov2016/

If you have any questions, please contact Kelsy Green at kgreen@advancedenergy.org or 919.857.9000

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Growth Energy, in partnership with Sheetz, donated two cents from the sale of every gallon of E15 (15% ethanol, 85% unleaded gasoline) to the American Cancer Society.

Throughout the month of October, more than 300 pumps offering E15 with pink nozzle handles were available to consumers throughout the state of North Carolina.

“Sheetz is honored to take part in the Pink Out program and help raise funds for breast cancer research,” said Mike Lorenz, executive vice president for petroleum supply at Sheetz. “We are committed to providing our customers with the best fueling options on the market, and E15 certainly falls into that category. For those who are new to E15, October is a great time to give it a try while contributing to a great cause.”

E15 contains 5% more ethanol than regular gasoline and is approved for use in any car 2001 or newer. This increase in ethanol helps lower vehicle emissions while improving engine performance.  More information about the fuel can be found on the About The Tech page.

Sheetz has added E15 pumps in over 60 of their gas stations across North Carolina since the beginning of 2016. They are also this year’s MobileCARE Award winner – Fuel Provider category, for their gas station expansions that have more than doubled the E15 and E85 offerings across the state. Drivers can find Sheetz stations that offer E15 at GetEthanol.com.

Cobb County, Georgia has been leading the charge when it comes to implementation of alternative fuels and more specifically electric vehicles into their fleet.  In 2015, the County partnered with a local Nissan dealership to lease 16 Nissan LEAFs to be deployed in several different departments.  They estimate that this transition to electric vehicles will save them almost a quarter million dollars and over one million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the vehicles.  The vehicles are charging at the newly deployed 25 charging stations across the county.  This deployment of 16 all electric vehicles was cited as the “largest implementation in the Southeast” by Nissan North America.

Since this initial push to implement electric vehicles in the fleet, Cobb County has leased an additional 7 Nissan LEAFs to be utilized in the Fire Department.   Along with these vehicles, seven more charging stations were installed at the Fire Headquarters.  These vehicles are anticipated to save the county another $173,000 and displace over 445,200 gallons of gasoline.

These efforts help to demonstrate the viability and cost-effectiveness of electric vehicles in today’s fleet.  We’re excited to hear about Cobb County’s efforts and look forward to hearing many other similar success stories from fleets across the southeast in the near future.

If you have questions about Cobb County’s electric vehicle experience, please contact the Fleet Manager, Al Curtis.

The Playbook for Sustainable Fleet Management is a comprehensive ‘best practices’ event to help fleet managers and transportation professionals implement clean transportation technologies into their fleets to become more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective.

The topics of the event will include:

• Motor Pool Management and Right-sizing
• Telematics and Data
• Propane Vehicles and Infrastructure
• Natural Gas Vehicles and Infrastructure
• Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure

Each of these topics will be covered by a North Carolina fleet that has successfully implemented the technologies/practices into their daily operations.  Vendors will also be on hand and will be able to answer any questions associated with the technologies.

The Playbook for Sustainable Fleet Management event will also serve as a venue for the NC Clean Energy Technology Center’s 10th Annual MobileCARE Awards.  The awards are an opportunity to recognize exemplary individuals and organizations that have successfully reduced transportation related emissions, promoted fuel diversity, and encouraged efficiency through clean transportation technologies.  The awardees will be recognized during an awards luncheon ceremony hosted by NCDOT Chief Deputy Secretary Walt Gray.

This event will be held on Wednesday, October 19, from 10:30am to 2:30pm at the McKimmon Conference & Training Center.

Register today!