California Flex-Fuel Fleet Hasn't Been Very Flexible

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Promotes Flex-Fuel Vehicles But It's Gasoline, Not Ethanol, Fueling Most of  the State's Flexi-Fleet 

An ill-kept secret in the auto industry is that while there have been a lot of flex-fuel vehicles sold over the years, most of them use gasoline far more frequently than the other fuel they're equipped to burn.

That’s certainly been the case in California, which in the last two years has purchased more 1,138 flex-fuel Chevrolet Impalas for various state agencies and has never pumped an ounce of alternative fuel into any of them.

One study by the state found that in 2002 it owned 5,100 alternative fuel vehicles but that only 63 of them ever used anything but conventional gasoline.

That kind of inconsistency raised Assemblyman Ted Lieu's hackles and the Southern California Democrat became lead author of a bill--AB 236--that requires state agencies to acquire the greenest vehicles possible when adding to or replacing cars and trucks in their fleets, and to pump the right stuff into their alternative- and flex-fuel vehicles' tanks whenever possible.

So far,  the state's alt-fuel vehicles are fed gasoline because it's easiest to find. There has been only one place for an Impala-driving California bureaucrat to go to get the E-85 blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline the cars are supposed to burn.  And that was down at the far southern end of the state, in San Diego, a long, long way from the areas where most of the flex-fuel cars are in use.

The cars were purchased as part of an ongoing drive to help reduce dependence on oil and improve California's air quality. But when run on gasoline they have dirtier emissions than did the cars they were purchased to replace, said David Ford, Lieu's chief of staff.

That's especially embarrassing because the state leads the nation in legislation aimed at forcing the auto industry to provide cleaner cars and trucks.

Things could improve a little bit: a new E-85 pump was opened in the state garage near the capitol building this month and an E-85 station is being built near downtown Los Angeles. That will bring the total to three ethanol pumps for the entire state.

AB 236 has now been approved by both houses of California’s legislature and is on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk, awaiting action.

The governor lately has been sounding like a charter member of the alternative  fuels fan club—. Among other things he’s actively promoted development of fuel cell vehicles and a hydrogen fueling infrastructure (he, or his speech writer, has called it the “hydrogen highway”).

He also has pushed for increased use of alternative fuel vehicles by state government and by private businesses, has converted several of his personal vehicles to greener fuels and even put down a $50,000 deposit on a Tesla electric roadster for his wife, Maria Schriver.

But approval isn't a sure thing. Schwarzenegger has been known to veto measures that create new layers of bureaucracy. And he runs a state with precarious finances and Lieu's bill has a price tag: an estimated $265,000 in one-time costs to set things up and $50,000 a year in ongoing operating costs, according to a legislative analyst.

The value in tracking fuel use, said Ford, is that it lets everyone know whether the state is keeping it promises and setting an example for the rest of us. It also would help identify where demand for flex fuels is not being met.

"The state bought these flex-fuel cars without ever looking at where the fuel was," Ford said. "If we were tracking this we might have made different choices" and purchased gas-electric hybrid cars or conventional gasoline-burning cars with ultra low emissions.

Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 12 to sign or veto the measure and would probably love to hear from people who support--or oppose--the idea.

Letters can be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA. 95814.

If you don't live in California and would like your state to start  promoting and tracking use of alternative fuels, feel free to drop a note to your own legislators and governors.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Posted by

John O'Dell September 19, 2007, 4:27 PM

Permalink

Categories:

Alternative Fuels, Legislation