Perspectives on AFVs: 1996 Federal Fleet Manager Survey

In an effort to reduce national dependence on imported oil and to improve urban air quality, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is promoting the development and deployment of alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). To support this activity, DOE has directed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop and conduct projects to evaluate the performance andacceptability of light-duty AFVs compared to similar gasoline vehicles. As part of this effort, NREL has undertaken a number of evaluation projects, including conducting telephone surveys with fleet managers and drivers of AFVs in the federal fleet. These surveys were initiated, in part, to replace a large self-response AFV data collection effort that NREL conducted with the federal fleet from1991 through 1995. In the previous project (Whalen et al. 1996) drivers of AFVs and similar gasoline vehicles were asked to provide fueling, mileage, and driveability information on their vehicles for extended periods of time. The surveys were developed to collect similar information from both drivers and fleet managers with higher quality and increased efficiency at a lower cost. This reportsummarizes the results from the survey of fleet managers.