Driving toward the future

Bob Shemeligian

Thursday, April 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

At Nevada Power Co., officials are getting a charge out of the company's new fleet of light utility vehicles.

That's because more and more of them are powered by electricity.

At the company's office on West Sahara Avenue, officials test drove Wednesday a 1998 electric Ford Ranger.

Powered by lead acid batteries, the $33,000 truck runs silently and efficiently -- but only for 50 miles before it needs a charge.

"Obviously, these vehicles have only limited applications," lamented Nevada Power spokesman Tom Henley. "But the purchase of electric vehicles will help us to meet our mission statement to be a leader in environmental conservation."

The National Energy Policy Act of 1992 requires that 30 percent of the new light duty vehicles Nevada Power purchases are alternative fuel vehicles by 1999.

While several car manufacturers including General Motors have developed various 1998 electric cars and trucks, representatives from Ford say they have a better idea.

"This truck has very few moving parts," said Ford alternative fuel vehicles specialist Ken Stwertnik. "There's no internal combustion engine, no engine oil and no radiator coolant. That means there's a lot less maintenance."

Stwertnik also boasted that the electric Ranger runs on 3.5 cents worth of electricity per mile. In comparison, he said, gasoline-driven Rangers run on 10 cent worth of fuel per mile.

Another selling point to the electric truck is that it's completely nonpolluting, something that greatly interests Nevada Power officials.

"We're talking zero emissions from this electric vehicle. That's very important to us at Nevada Power," Henley said. "In Las Vegas, as you know, we have a very tenuous situation with our air quality, and we'd like to do our part to help out."

If Nevada Power purchases any electric Rangers, the trucks would join a small fleet of the power company's alternative fueled vehicles.

Included in this fleet is a 1995 GMC Sonoma Truck, which was converted to electricity by a team of students from Clark High School.

The Ford Ranger, like most electric vehicles, takes about six hours to be fully charged.

Stwertnik said as technology improves on electric vehicles, so will the range.

"These electric vehicles are really beginning to catch on, especially among women," Stwertnik said. "We've done studies, and we were surprised to learn just how much most women hate to stop at filling stations. With electric cars, you don't have that problem."