Lessons from the CleanFleet Federal Express alternative (fuel demonstration project)

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:418197

Myers, R E ^[1]

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1. Propane Vehicle Council, Irvine, CA (United States)

CleanFleet, formally known as the South Coast Alternative Fuels Demonstration, was a comprehensive demonstration of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) used in daily commercial service during 1992--1994. Between April 1992 and September 1994, five alternative fuels were tested in 84 panel vans: the fuels were propane, compressed natural gas (CNG), methanol as M-85, California Phase 2 reformulated gasoline (RFG) and electricity. The objective of the project was to demonstrate and document the operational, emissions and economic status of alternative fuels used in commercial fleet delivery vans in the early 1990s and how those vehicles would stack up with air quality regulations in the mid to late 1990s. During the two-year demonstration, CleanFleet`s 111 vans travelled more than three million miles. Fleet operations were looked at to uncover and resolve problems whether fuel or vehicle related. Exhaust and evaporative emissions were measured as the vans accumulated mileage. And the data and experience were used to estimate the costs to a fleet operator using AFV to achieve the environmental benefits of reduced emissions. For each of the fuels, vans were rotated among various routes at precise intervals at their respective sites so as to provide an objective basis for data accumulation. Detailed findings of this project are now available from the US Department of Energy`s Office of Scientific and Technical Information. With no slight intended toward the other alternative fuels, there is a presumption that GPA members will have greatest interest in the gaseous fuels. Therefore, this paper will discuss only the major findings with somewhat more detail emphasis on the gaseous fuels.

• OSTI ID: 418197
• Report Number(s): CONF-960348--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
AIR POLLUTION
COMPRESSED GASES
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
ELECTRIC-POWERED VEHICLES
ELECTRICITY
FIELD TESTS
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
METHANOL FUELS
NATURAL GAS
OPERATING COST
PROPANE
UNLEADED GASOLINE
VANS