Maryland officials promised to triple their purchases of hybrid vehicles for the state fleet in the next four years, even though hybrid cars and trucks powered with electricity and gasoline cost twice as much traditional cars.
The state also will increase the purchase of alternative-fuel vehicles so 40 percent of the 1,000 new cars and trucks either will be hybrids or run with biodiesel and ethanol, according to a proposal by budget secretary Eloise Foster at the Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday.
“We could do better” than the 40 percent goal, Gov. Martin O?Malley said.
Comptroller Peter Franchot complained six weeks ago the state was “moving very glacially” in its purchase of hybrids.
The state has 30 hybrid cars and 10 hybrid buses among its 9,100 vehicles, and proposes to increase that to 100 vehicles in three years.
Foster said new hybrid sedans, police sport utility vehicles and pickups being manufactured will allow the state to buy hybrids for more purposes. Until Wednesday, only two hybrid compacts, Honda Civics and Ford Escapes, were on the approved list.
More than a quarter of state vehicles run on biodiesel or ethanol. Last year, then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed legislation requiring at least half the state?s 2,500 diesel-fueled vehicles to use biodiesel fuel. Most trucks are used by the State Highway Administration, Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport and Port of Baltimore.
Treasurer Nancy Kopp also pushed officials to buy more fuel-efficient gas-powered cars. Gas mileage on new state sedans ranges from 22 mpg for city driving to 32 mpg on the highway.
Hybrids get higher gas mileage, but cost more. Fleet administrator Larry Williams said because of bulk discounts, the state pays about $11,500 for a typical Dodge Neon or Chevy Cavalier, but hybrid Civics cost $21,000.
