Walsh delivers largest fleet of Miles Electric vehicles to Chicago
6 Dec 2007
Source: MyWebTimes.com
http://mywebtimes.com/ottnews/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=349664
To reduce emissions and costs, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has purchased 30 all-electric Miles ZX40 cars from Bill Walsh Automotive Group’s Starved Rock Electric Company. The acquisition represents the single largest purchase of Miles electric vehicles by a government agency.
Bill Walsh Jr., general manager of Starved Rock Electric Company, and Gary Pitts, commercial and fleet manager of the Bill Walsh Automotive Group, attended the ceremonial “plug-in” press event with the Water Reclamation District president and commissioners. The Miles cars and trucks are powered by batteries that can be charged at any standard household outlet.
“The District prides itself on protecting the environment and utilizing our resources in the best public interest, and that mission extends to our fleet decisions,” District President Terry O’Brien said in a press release. “In reviewing alternative fuel vehicle options, we feel these all-electric cars are an excellent choice in terms of emissions and overall costs, while meeting our practical needs for safety and comfort.”
The Miles ZX40 is a four-door, four-seat utility vehicle built on an all-steel car chassis. It delivers a 40- to 50-mile driving range and is 10 times less expensive to operate than gasoline-powered vehicles. According to the release, the Miles electric vehicles produce zero tailpipe emissions and costs just 1.5 cents per mile to operate.
The Water Reclamation District will use the Miles vehicles for maintenance, security and transportation of engineers and water analysts around the water plants that treat Chicago’s main waterways and its 1,300 streams within an 883-square-mile zone that includes the city and 129 suburban municipalities.
It also will use the Miles electric vehicles among the 25,000 acres it owns and controls within four metro counties. The seven water facilities treat a flow of 1.2 billion gallons of waste water per day.
“The Chicago Water Reclamation District is looking at electric vehicle fleets as their responsibility toward advancing their lead role in environment stewardship and reducing their overall carbon footprint,” said Walsh. “Right now, our electric vehicle division is the busiest in our company as we are taking calls from businesses and agencies and submitting bids daily for electric vehicle fleets as these organizations realize the economic and environmental benefits to ‘going electric.’”
Walsh represents the Miles and GEM companies that have electric vehicle customers including the U.S. Navy, the National Park Service, Augustana College, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Southern California, Brigham Young University, UCLA, the University of Illinois system, Disney World, Google, General Electric, NASA and national and international figures including the Pope, Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Willis.
Bill Walsh will be carrying the new Miles XS500, advertised as the first safe, affordable, mass-produced all-electric highway speed vehicle, in 2009.