KALAMAZOO, Mich. … Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation announced today that the U.S. General Services Administration recently purchased 35 fuel-efficient hybrid shuttle buses that utilize Eaton’s hybrid electric power system. The purchases were made with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The GSA has said the buses will be placed into service at U.S. Military bases and will replace older, less efficient models. The buses are part of an overall GSA clean fleet vehicle purchase that is expected to save an estimated 16.7 million gallons of fuel over the next seven years and prevent 334 million pounds of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.
“Eaton is proud to be a part of a program to reduce fuel consumption in the U.S federal fleet,” said William Batten, Director of Government Accounts for Eaton’s Vehicle Group. “Buses powered with Eaton’s hybrid power system have the potential to impact environmental sustainability in a very big way. We’ve seen many positive results from commercial customers around the world and we hope that this announcement will lead to overall greater acceptance of hybrid technology within the U.S. federal fleet.”
Founded in 1949, GSA manages more than 11 percent of the U.S. government’s total procurement dollars and $24 billion in federal assets, including 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 213,000 vehicles.
Eaton offers the world’s most complete line-up of hybrid systems for commercial vehicle applications. Eaton hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and two hybrid hydraulic power systems are available or in development on truck models including DAF, Freightliner, Ford, International, Iveco, Kenworth, Mercedes-Benz and Peterbilt and on bus models from BCI, Foton, Heng Tong, JNP, King Long, Shen Long, Solaris Yutong and Zhongtong. Eaton hybrid power systems have accumulated more than 35 million miles of road-tested service around the world.
Companies such as FedEx, UPS, Coca-Cola Enterprises, PepsiCo and Wal-Mart are using delivery vehicles with the Eaton system. Work trucks with Eaton hybrid power are also in service at Florida Power and Light and many utility and telecom companies across North America. Benefits of the existing Eaton hybrid systems include fuel savings up to 35 percent, with similar percentages in emission reductions, extended brake life and idle time reductions of up to 87 percent during work site operations.
Eaton Corporation is a diversified power management company with 2009 sales of $11.9 billion. Eaton is a global technology leader in electrical components and systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton has approximately 70,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com. ###
