This project was originally for the purchase of 13 Heavy-Duty Compressed Natural Gas Vehicles. The project was amended in December of 2009 to 11 HD CNG vehicles and 1 HD all-electric zero emission truck. A CNG Crane truck was eliminated as we purchased a towable battery powered crane for this application.
$ 2,225,447.93. Received from MSRC $300,000. The AQMD will provide $87,205 in co-funding for the demonstration project with the all-electric truck
After approval of the project, we met with the relevant operating groups to discuss the needs and specifications of the vehicles and how they will be used. The City has very strict guidelines on the bidding process; and the bidding is put out on the City's website. Once bids are received back from vendors and the selection of the best bidder is made we sought Council approval and Purchasing issued a PO. There were several delays in purchasing these vehicles due to lack of available engines and changes in the City and Using Department's needs and more scrutiny during the recession. We were able to partner with the AQMD on a demonstration project of an all-electric drivetrain for one of the vehicles.
All 12 vehicles have been purchased and are in service. The first was placed in service 08/27/07 and the last went in service 04/26/10. There were no major issues with any of the CNG vehicles. Some of the solid waste collection vehicles with the Cummins ISL-G engine had a smell of ammonia coming from the exhaust for a couple of months. It may have been the catalytic converter. Cummins did look, was able to re-create it, but was unable to determine the cause. The all-electric truck was providing excellent service until a transmission issue developed. It has been out of service for four months now. A new transmission is being installed and it should be back in service in a couple of weeks.
The purchase of CNG & electric vehicles furthers the goals of the City of Santa Monicas Sustainable City Plan by using low or zero emission vehicles whenever possible and improving the environment and livability of our area. The City of Santa Monicas Sustainable City Plan defines sustainability as meeting current needs environmental, economic and social without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.
It is very important to continue funding alternative fuel vehicle projects until the initial capital investment is closer to that of diesel equivalents. CNG vehicles are proven to work very well in many applications, but the incremental cost of CNG vehicles is a barrier to purchasing them, especially in the current economic climate. When demand increases for alternative fuel vehicles manufacturers provide more products. This increases competition and should result in lower prices and more variety.
Average of new Diesel emissions would be 6.4 g/mi nox & .03 g/mi P/M compared to these CNG vehicles which are .6 g/mi nox and .03 g/mi P/M. The electric vehicle has zero emissions at the tail pipe. CNG vehicles continue to prove to be very reliable and able to do the work typically done by diesel trucks.