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ComEd Powers Up Its Fleet Of Electric Cars

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Jan 12, 2009 7:42 am US/Central

ComEd Powers Up Its Fleet Of Electric Cars

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: A Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid concept car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 15, 2008. (File)
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

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The electric company has gone electric with its vehicle fleet.

ComEd last week received the first of 50 new Toyota Priuses, including 10 that had been converted to full electric plug-ins. They get re-charged using a standard 120-volt outlet.

The plug-in conversions, to be used by ComEd meter readers, are expected to double the fuel-efficiency of the Prius from 47 to 96 miles per gallon. The company hopes not only to save on gas, but to prepare for a time when more electricity consumers are using plug-in cars.

"Most major vehicle manufacturers have committed to bringing plug-in electric vehicles to the market in the next two to five years," said Rita Stols, ComEd vice president of strategic and support services. "By adding these vehicles now, we can study their performance and effects on the electric grid to prepare for wide-scale consumer adoption."

The new cars could eventually be used as back-up power sources, said Terence Donnelly, ComEd's senior vice president of transmission and distribution.

ComEd expects the new vehicles to save 6,500 gallons in gas a year -- or 60 metric tons of CO2. ComEd's "green fleet" also includes trucks that run on biodiesel fuel, flex-fuel vehicles that use 85 percent ethanol fuel, and Ford Escape hybrids.