AT&T takes alternate path with vehicles
By: Mike Aldax
Examiner Staff Writer
March 13, 2009
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| Greener future: AT&T will spend $350 million on 8,000 compressed natural-gas vehicles. The fuel produces 25 percent less carbon emissions than unleaded gas. |
SAN FRANCISCO — The old AT&T slogan, “Fewest Dropped Calls,” may one day morph into, “Most Fuel-Efficient Cars.”
The phone service company – which has been testing a new fleet of alternative-fuel vehicles on Bay Area roads – announced this week it plans to spend $565 million to add more than 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles to its fleet over the next 10 years.
It is the largest commitment by a U.S. corporation to vehicles using alternative fuels, the company said.
AT&T said it will spend $350 million on 8,000 compressed natural gas vehicles. Natural gas is a fossil fuel, but burning it produces 25 percent less carbon emissions than using gasoline, AT&T said.
The phone company will pledge another $215 million “to begin replacing its passenger cars with alternative fuel models,” including hybrids and possibly other “green” vehicles that might be invented in the next decade.
Employees will use the alternative-fuel vehicles for a variety of AT&T’s operations, the company said. Nearly 800 of the alternative fuel vehicles will take to the streets this year.
Last June, AT&T said it deployed 105 alternative-fuel vehicles in more than 30 U.S. cities. In late 2007, it also piloted four Ford Escape hybrids in California.
“Economic times are tough, but tough times make it even more important to look for efficient solutions,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, in a statement.
The Center for Automotive Research said the new green vehicles will save 49 million gallons of gasoline and reduce carbon emission by 211,000 metric tons over the next 10 years, according to AT&T.
