Research for Legislation

Laws and regulations taking effect over the next several years will determine the types of administrative vehicles the Department of the Navy (DON) must buy. Of most concern are a recent Executive Order, which requires purchasing vehicles that operate on nonpetroleum fuels, and the Clean Air Act, which requires fleet owners to purchase low emission vehicles for use in certain parts of the country. CNA analyzed the options available to DON for meeting these requirements. The results tend to favor one alternative fuel for vehicles held for two or three years and different fuels for vehicles held for more than eight years. These results are sensitive to changes in fuel prices and other vehicle costs. Because current data are limited and the alternative-fuel-vehicle industry is undergoing rapid change, we recommend that DON not commit to a single technology until more is known about the on-road performance and costs of all the choices. Appendixes covering emissions, DON fleet composition and distribution, and cost comparisons are published separately as CNA Research Memorandum 92-92.