Fleet Characteristics
Municipal Fleet of more then 130 vehicles, including 6 hibrids, 1 CNG and several electrical small vehicles.
Experience
In 2004, the Almada Municipality contacted the local energy agency, AGENEAL, to ask for cooperation in the definition of a green purchasing guide for use on the fleet renovation processes. AGENEAL study the municipal fleet and defined a set of recommendations for each type of vehicles of the fleet. In the specific case of light passenger vehicles, AGENEAL came out with a simple table that defined the fuel consumption and emission maximum values allowed for the acquisition of new passenger light vehicles by the Almada Municipality. In this table, which should be updated every 2 or 3 years according to the evolution of the market, it was defined that no light passenger car to be bought by the municipality should emit more than 165 g/km.
In the same study, a first practical application case was developed. The City Council had to substitute the Municipal Deputies vehicles (1994 Nissan Sunny) and AGENEAL picked 19 of the less emitting and less consuming vehicles on the market (considering that these would be representation vehicles) to study their energy and environmental performances. The study included a financial assessment, where one could check the impact of the 40% vehicle tax reduction that alternative cars have in the Portugal and an estimation of the savings of the car use during their life spam. The results showed that the best energy and environmental option was the Toyota Prius and the best financial solution would be Honda IMA.
This study lead to the definition of environmental and energy criteria to be used on the tenders for the acquisition of new vehicles and eventually Almada Municipality end up having the first Portuguese hybrid fleet with the purchase of 6 Prius.
This project is part of the Municipal Mobility Strategy that includes several major projects, like the Almada Mobility Plan - Access 21, the construction of a Light Rail System (open to the public on May 2007) and the Almada Cycling Plan (223 km of cycling ways in construction) amongst others.
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Author
Pedro Machado
Contact
Pedro Machado
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