City Adds to Natural Gas Fleet
The City of Gulf Breeze has taken a stand on doing our part to help “cut the crude” out of our country’s energy dependence on foreign oil and for about half the cost of gasoline. Since March 2012 we have placed into service: three C-2500 Chevrolet vans, two E-350 Ford vans, and two heavy duty F-250 Ford pickups, all dedicated compressed natural gas vehicles (CNG). Dedicated CNG vehicles are vehicles that only run on compressed natural gas with no other fuel tanks on board.
We have also placed two Ford Fusions into service that are bi-fuel vehicles. A bi-fuel vehicle is a vehicle that has both a compressed natural gas tank and a gasoline tank. The Ford Fusion continues to be a favorite for fleets going into 2013. It earned the title of “Fleet Car of the Year” once again for third year in a row.
Over the first 1500 miles with the Fusion we are averaging about 33 miles per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) and comments from the public have been very positive. In fact, ALL of the CNG vehicles are achieving about the same “gas mileage” as their gasoline counterparts.
Currently, we are using a combination of two FMQ-36-2 Fuelmaster refueling appliances along with the quick fill facility that Pensacola Energy opened a few months ago. It is our intent to have our own quick fill facility open by September of 2013.
If you have questions about CNG vehicles or refueling appliances in the Gulf Breeze area, please give Harrold Hatcher a call at 850-232-9701 cell or email him at hhatcher@gulfbreezefl.gov .