It looks like Chevrolet finally found a sucker to buy the overpriced Volt — taxpayers. Detroit News:
The Obama administration announced today it is buying more than 100 plug-in electric vehicles and will install charging stations in government buildings in five cities, including Detroit.
The General Services Administration — which oversees most of the federal government’s 600,000 vehicle fleet — plans to buy 116 plug-in electric vehicles, including 101 extended-range Chevrolet Volts, 10 battery electric Nissan Leafs and five Think City EV models from Finish EV startup, the agency said today.
As part of a pilot project, the vehicles are to be placed with 20 government agencies in five cities — Detroit, Washington, D.C., San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. All branches of the U.S. military — including some recruiters — will get electric vehicles under the pilot program as will the Veterans Administration and the Energy Department.
“This electric vehicle pilot will leverage GSA’s role as the government’s fleet operator and landlord to successfully integrate advanced vehicles and infrastructure into the government fleet,” said GSA Administrator Martha Johnson.
In future years, the government could dramatically increase the number of electric vehicles because agencies will be able to order EVs as they currently order other vehicles on the government schedule.
The government is expected to install about 100 charging stations at federal buildings in California, Washington, D.C., and Michigan.
GSA buys the vehicles for two-thirds of the federal fleet, acquiring about 65,000 new vehicles annually. The U.S. Post Office owns and buys the remaining vehicles.