After Six-month Trial, Army Pulls the Plug On Electric Vehicles In Europe

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Spc. Jacob Landis drives a leased electric vehicle at Grafenwöhr, Germany, in May. After a six-month trial, the garrison has decided not to keep the three vehicles.


After Six-month Trial, Army Pulls the Plug On Electric Vehicles In Europe

By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, December 21, 2008

After a six-month trial, the garrison has decided not to keep the three vehicles. GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — The Army will not use electric vehicles in Europe in the near future after a six-month trial failed to impress officials.

U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr tested three Global Electric Motorcars, or GEMs, from April to October as part of a study to determine how feasible it was to replace certain gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles in its fleet.

The cars were leased — at a cost of $13,000 for the three cars — to compare their performance to that of conventional cars and trucks used by the Army in Bavaria. At the start of the trial, garrison spokesman Franz Zeilmann said the vehicles could be adopted by garrisons across Europe.

Last week, Grafenwohr’s director of public works, Tom Hays, said the cars failed to impress.

"They broke down too often and didn’t have enough range," he said of the cars made in the States by a Chrysler subsidiary.

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