Propane Conversions
Last year as gasoline prices soared to an average of $4.11 per gallon, Sheriff Stan Evans of Jackson County, Ga., found himself with two problems: gasoline was hard to find; and when it was available it was expensive. The department needed an alternative fuel source.
With the help of Georgia Gas Distributors, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department outfitted four patrol vehicles with propane conversion kits from American Alternative Fuel of Coxsackie, N.Y.
After what Evans describes as extremely positive results, the department used confiscated drug money to pay Force 911 of Pendergrass, Ga., to outfit another 30 vehicles. The fleet’s remaining 30 squads will be retrofitted by year’s end, possibly with federal grant funds.
The savings, with just half of the fleet converted, has been substantial, says Evans. With propane costing less than half that of gasoline ($1.21 per gallon versus $2.59 a gallon) and a federal tax credit reimbursing the department 50 cents on every gallon of propane used, the savings quickly add up. “We burn around 120,000 gallons of fuel a year,” Evans says. “By year’s end, we’ll save close to $100,000, and it’s all due to using propane.”
Evans’ savings estimate is on fuel price alone, but there are other benefits to propane conversions. According to the National Propane Gas Association, propane offers the longest driving range of all clean burning fuel alternatives and fleets report two to three times longer service life. In fact, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office now stretches oil changes to every 6,000 miles instead of every 3,000 because propane burns cleaner, a critical factor as the department’s patrol cars’ odometers spin up pretty fast serving a population of nearly 60,000 spread across 343 square miles.
Conversions are fairly simple, adds Wayne Abbs, president of Force 911. The installation equips vehicles with a separate propane system designed to operate in conjunction with gasoline. According to Abbs, the propane system includes its own tank (installed behind the vehicle’s rear seat) and injector system, allowing the vehicle to run off gasoline when propane levels are low. “It switches to gas automatically and you don’t even know it,” he says.
While the average retrofit costs about $5,800, Evans notes converting so many vehicles at one time drove the cost down to just $3,500. “Because we used confiscated drug money to do this, it has been at no cost to the taxpayer,” he adds, noting the expenditure will be recouped by year’s end. This money in turn will offset the cost of adding a propane fueling station at the county’s gasoline refueling site.
Saving money with alternative fuels just makes good sense, says Abbs. “With police agencies doing the amount of driving they do and the economy the way it is, the money saved with these conversions can be used to replace or keep employees or save the taxpayer money,” he says.
Hybrid Vehicles
In May, Chief Leonard Wetherbee of the Concord (Mass.) Police Department announced plans to add another hybrid vehicle to its fleet after he estimated the department’s hybrid Ford Escape saved $5,000 a year in fuel costs compared to the Ford Explorer it replaced. Plans are to replace aging vehicles with hybrids in the future, with hopes of eventually cutting the department fuel bills by half.
This potential for fuel savings has departments across the country shelling out the extra $3,000 to $5,000 for hybrids vs. traditional squads. And grant funding is available from the Department of Justice (DOJ) for those agencies willing to give hybrids a try.
The West Dundee (Ill.) Police Department joined 11 agencies across the state opting for a grant to experiment with hybrid cars for less speed-intensive tasks. It used its $19,000 DOJ grant and $4,000 of department funds to purchase a hybrid Toyota Camry for investigations and surveillance use. To receive the funds, the police department agreed to participate in a yearlong study and report its findings back to the DOJ.
West Dundee PD Chief Dave Sawyer says he hopes the hybrid, which switches back and forth between a gas engine and an electric motor, will help trim the department’s $42,000 fuel budget. West Dundee PD’s Ford Crown Vics average 18 to 20 miles per gallon, while the hybrid averages 33 to 34 miles per
gallon. “If we use it in our downtown area where the speed limit is below 30 mph, the battery kicks in and we don’t use as much gas or any gas at all,” Sawyer says. “If we go out and drive faster than 30 to 35 mph, we’re going to spend less on fuel than we would for a regular car.”
