Study shows government fleet operators now favor hydrogen fuel alternatives
14 8月 2002
DETROIT, MICHIGAN — FORTY-SEVEN percent of government fleet decision-makers would seriously consider purchasing hydrogen-based vehicles if they were offered in body styles similar to those currently in operation.
Furthermore, 73% of decision-makers who are familiar with fuel cell vehicles and 60% of those who are familiar with hydrogen internal combustion engines would seriously consider purchasing them for their fleets.
These data are from a Spring 2002 study recently released by Market Facts Motoresearch, working in cooperation with Fleetcommunity, Inc.
The study, which surveyed 243 decision-makers operating government and private fleets in the U.S. and Canada, explored the current use and attitudes toward alternative fuels and propulsion systems.
"Fleet operators, especially those running government fleets, face a daunting challenge as they try to meet mandates requiring a reduction in petroleum consumption and the purchase of alternatively fueled vehicles," said Scott Miller, Executive Vice President and Director of Market Facts Motoresearch's Alternative Fuels and Propulsion practice.
"The bottom line is that few dedicated alternative fuel vehicles fulfill the performance and range requirements of most fleet vehicles."
The study also found that 58% of government fleets surveyed currently operate vehicles that run on natural gas, 52% operate vehicles that run on propane and 42% operate vehicles that run on ethanol. Although with much less frequency, many private fleets also operate vehicles that run on these alternative fuels.
Hybrids and electric vehicles also can be found in many government and some private fleets.
"In addition to the survey itself, we spoke at length with many of these fleet operators," continued Miller. "They are quite bullish on any new fuel or system that helps them reduce their consumption of petroleum; however, most are unable to dedicate large volumes of vehicles to any of these 'alternative fuels' because of performance and range deficiencies, as well as the lack of adequate fueling and servicing infrastructure."
In Miller's opinion, fleets provide substantial sales potential for hydrogen-based vehicles. Long before the vehicles and the infrastructure are able to meet retail buyer needs, we expect to see large volumes of hydrogen-based vehicles completely fulfilling the functional needs of many vehicles in the nation�s fleets."
A quarter of the operators surveyed indicated that the average light duty vehicle drives no more than 70 miles a day—45 miles or less among government fleets. "This is critical, given the limited range achieved with current hydrogen storage technology."
Further, a limited retail fueling infrastructure for hydrogen "although a challenge for the retail market"is less of a hurdle for fleets that have central refueling.
The study indicated that roughly a quarter of all fleets surveyed have large quantities of vehicles that could be fueled exclusively at their central refueling sites. The result is that even with range and central refueling restrictions, there exists an annual sales potential of tens of thousands of vehicles.
"It's an issue of putting the right propulsion systems into the right vehicles," Miller said. "If placed in vehicles with certain duty cycles and uses, hydrogen-based vehicles might actually be able to offer fleets a value proposition beyond helping them meet mandates."
Despite the favorable indications from the study, findings also indicated that there are many hurdles for manufacturers to overcome.
More than three-quarters of the decision-makers indicated that they would not be able to seriously consider hydrogen-based vehicles for their fleets until operating costs became similar to those of conventional vehicles and they were confident that they could service all aspects of the vehicles in-house.
About the company
Synovate generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of leading research solutions. Companies which will become Synovate on January 6th are Market Facts and its subsidiaries in the Americas; Asia Market Intelligence and Research Fact in Asia Pacific; and Market&More, Pegram Walters, Demoscopie, The Sample Surveys Research Group, INNER Strategic Research and MEMRB Custom Research Worldwide in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More information on Synovate is available on www.synovate.com.
Market Facts Motoresearch is a part of Aegis Research, a division of Aegis Group plc, a London-based public company, listed on The London Stock Exchange (AGS). Aegis Research, soon to be renamed Synovate, provides clients with leading-edge, full-service research delivered through a network of 72 offices in 43 countries.
Aegis Group plc is also the holding company for Carat and Media Marketing Assessment, leading companies in providing media communication services and marketing consultancy.
Fleetcommunity, Inc. is a fast growing opt-in e-mail community of fleet decision-makers that facilitates benchmarking for its members and provides them access to unique vendor sponsored programs.
Fleetcommunity members are located throughout the US and Canada and are from various industry segments, including manufacturing, government/municipalities, public utilities, food processing, etc.
With over 1,200 fleets managing over 900,000 vehicles, the Community represents a broad cross-section of North American fleets with an average size of over 700 vehicles.
Vehicles owned and operated by Fleetcommunity membership range from Class 1 through Class 8. Fleetcommunity membership controls an estimated annual purchasing power in excess of $5.5 billion.
For information about this study, contact: smiller@motoresearch.com
or
http://www.motoresearch.com Or, write to Scott Miller, Market Facts Motoresearch, Inc., 2520 Industrial Row Dr., Troy, MI 48084, or telephone: (248) 288-8500.
For information about Fleetcommunity, Inc., contact marc@fleetcommunity.com or http://www.fleetcommunity.com Phone: 312-640-1500