New York Power Authority Clean Transportation Update                                August 2004

Hello from the New York Power Authority!

Welcome to the second edition of the Power Authority’s Clean Transportation Update, with information on some of our recent activities to promote the use of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in New York State…

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor high oil prices will keep these couriers from their appointed rounds

Eight new electric postal trucks purchased by the Power Authority for U.S. Postal Service routes in the Bronx’s Mott Haven and Hunts Point neighborhoods will keep mail deliveries running smoothly this summer, despite high oil prices, and will reduce air and noise pollution as well.

The emission-free trucks, delivered earlier this summer, will replace diesel delivery trucks. They are part of a $23 million Power Authority program to offset emissions in New York City, where we installed small, clean power plants in 2001 to meet an urgent need for power.

The electric delivery trucks are ideal for postal routes, which typically involve short-distance travel and extended idling. We worked with the Postal Service to introduce electric delivery trucks in 1998 at the Ansonia Station in Manhattan. By 2001, 22 electric delivery vans were operating in Manhattan. Covering an average distance of seven miles per day (New York City mail tends to travel vertically—up high-rise buildings—rather than through city streets), these trucks have cumulatively logged approximately 120,000 miles.  They have proved very reliable and very well-suited for this application.

Delivery of the eight new trucks, with drive-systems manufactured by Massachusetts-based Solectria Corp., brings to 30 the number of electric Postal Service trucks the Power Authority has helped to supply in New York City.
 

‘Workhorses’ of the Aviation Industry Ripe for Innovation

For several years now, we have been exploring possible electric transportation applications at New York City airports.  Here’s why: New York City’s airports are among the world's busiest.  Any one of the major airlines may serve as many as 17,000 people per day in over 240 flights.  When we think of pollution at these airports, we may think of the taxicabs and buses picking up and dropping off passengers or even the large jet engines taxiing on the runways.  But most of us are less aware of the "workhorses" of the aviation industry—the ground support vehicles. 

A large jet may have as many as a half-dozen vehicles servicing it—preparing it for takeoff or unloading baggage after it lands.  These vehicles operate long hours and spend many hours idling.  Because they are classified as "off-road," their emissions are not as strictly regulated as other on-road vehicles. 

Although electricity is a far cheaper and cleaner fuel than gasoline or diesel oil, cash-strapped airlines have been reluctant to make the switch to electric vehicles because of the time involved in recharging batteries.  But recently, several manufacturers have introduced intelligent fast-chargers for airport vehicles which can bring a battery to full charge in about 15 minutes, reducing gate delays.  For all these reasons, a ground support electrification project at New York City airports makes sense.

So next time you are sitting in a window seat waiting for your flight to leave the gate, take a look outside your window.  Perhaps you will see a baggage tug pulling a few small trailers full of luggage or a belt loader—a long, skinny vehicle with a luggage conveyor belt on its back.  In the not-to-distant future, maybe these vehicles will be zero emission electric vehicles with NYPA logos on them!

We’re currently at work on a number of other exciting electric transportation projects, which we can’t wait to tell you about. Stay tuned for our next update.