Contrary to Media Report, GSA Says It Has Plans to Convert U.S. Fleet to Hybrids
By Scott Doggett August 27, 2010
NOTE: This article updates one posted Aug. 19 and based on a Federal Times article.
By Scott Doggett, Contributing Editor
A recent article regarding hybrid purchases by the U.S. General Services Administration that appeared in the Federal Times - a Gannett publication that's widely read by government managers in our country's capital - riled quite a few people within and outside the District of Columbia.
The gist of the article was that the General Services Administration earlier this year purchased more than 5,600 hybrid vehicles, but barring another round of stimulus funds, the agency won't likely make another large purchase of hybrid vehicles anytime soon.
That, we have been told, is simply untrue.
Among those who want to set the record straight are GSA Chief of Staff Michael Robertson and Bill Webster, GSA Assistant Commissioner for Travel, Motor Vehicles and Card Services. Both men spoke with Green Car Advisor at length to correct inaccuracies that appeared in the Federal Times article.
For those of you unfamiliar with the GSA, it is an independent agency of the U.S. government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. Outside of D.C., the GSA isn't well known, but it ought to be popular from coast to coast because it exists primarily to save American taxpayers money.
And, in part, it saves us money by buying cars and trucks. The U.S. government fleet is made up of three parts that total 640,000 to 650,000 vehicles at any one time. About a third of them belong to the Post Office, mostly curbside letter-carrying vehicles. The Post Office buys its own vehicles, an increasingly percentage of which are "green," and does not use the GSA.
But the other two-thirds of the government fleet is made up of GSA-purchased vehicles. Some of those the GSA sells to other agencies, and some the GSA leases to other agencies. Sedans, pickups, vans - you name it, they buy it, as long as it isn't too specialized (no SWAT-type assault vehicles for the U.S. Marshals Service, for instance).
"When an agency owns its own fleet, it is still required to buy from GSA. GSA is the mandatory source for all non-tactical vehicles in the federal government with the exception of the Post Office. So they (other agencies) either buy from us or lease from us," Webster said.
The reason for that is that the GSA can get discount prices from automakers because the agency buys in bulk. The volume buying is, it really goes without saying, good for the government and good for the taxpayer.
So when the GSA bought 5,600 hybrid vehicles for multiple federal agencies earlier this year, it was able to acquire them at significant savings.
That fact wasn't reflected in the Federal Times article, nor were savings in fuel and fuel costs the hybrids are expected to achieve versus the vehicles that likely would have been purchased if the hybrids weren't available.
Indeed, one of the things about that article that peeved GSA officials most was mention of a high price differential the agency reportedly paid for Ford Fusion Hybrids over standard Ford Fusions. In fact, the dollar difference was between the Fusion Hybrid and the Dodge Avenger - a vehicle that wasn't even mentioned in the Federal Times piece.
Cost Savings
As you can see from the chart below, the GSA's negotiators were able to get substantially discounted prices for the hybrids they purchased for the government fleet. 
But - and here's where some in D.C. got upset - whereas the Federal Times suggested the purchase could be a one-time deal, the GSA told us that's just plain wrong.
"The purchase was the beginning of a collaboration we're doing with pretty much all of the agencies in the federal government at this point," Robertson said. "The Department of Energy was first out of the gate, and displayed fantastic leadership on their part by committing to turning over their entire agency-owned fleet to hybrids in three years."
He said the GSA, which itself uses nearly 1,400 vehicles, is looking to follow the DOE's lead and go all-hybrid, too. But more significantly, it is taking steps to convert the entire government fleet that's under its control to hybrid and battery-electric vehicles, although for the time being the BEVs that the GSA has acquired have primarily been low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles used by the military.
"One of the most exciting parts about this is that the federal government, through GSA, has the opportunity to make and push markets in this arena," Robertson said, speaking by phone from Washington. "The 5,600-vehicle purchase was the beginning of this transformation of the government fleet."
Webster, a former Vietnam Veteran who interrupted his vacation to speak with Green Car Advisor for this story, could not have sounded more proud when he said: "What we're trying to do is decrease greenhouse gas, increase fuel economy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil!"
Fuel Savings
There's no question that the use of hybrids in place of the vehicles that likely would have been bought if the hybrids weren't available is making the government fleet substantially greener.
You can see that in the chart below, which shows annual fuel savings and greenhouse gas reductions the hybrids are expected to achieve versus the non-hybrid models (listed at right) the GSA says it would likely have purchased if hybrids weren't available.
The GSA has calculated that the typical vehicle it buys is driven 11,732 miles a year. Using that number as a starting point, the agency figured that the 5,600 hybrids will result in a first-year fuel savings of 1,051,325 gallons of gasoline and diesel. At $3 a gallon, that's a cost savings to taxpayers of $3,153,975.
Additionally, GSA has calculated that the 5,600 vehicles during their first year of use will result in 9,343 fewer metric tons of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere.
But wait, you say, what about the additional cost of the hybrid vehicles? When the dust settles, will the GSA have saved the U.S. government and American taxpayers money?
It's a good question, and one that cannot be precisely answered without the use of a magical crystal ball that doesn't exist. But if the price of regular-grade gasoline returns to $4 a gallon within say, the next year or two, the answer would most definitely be yes.
That's due in part to a strategy the GSA has adopted toward hybrids to reduce the so-called "hybrid premium," that is, the amount a hybrid vehicle cost above a comparable non-hybrid vehicle. The strategy consists of holding onto the hybrids on average 4-5 years versus the 3 years the government typically holds on to a non-hybrid vehicle.
The extra time allows the GSA to maximize the fuel savings the hybrids can achieve while still keeping the vehicles young enough to sell well at auction. And Webster predicts the hybrids will have significantly greater resale value at auction than the non-hybrid vehicles.
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