Verizon utilizes new vehicles

Verizon showcased some of the energy-efficient additions to its motor vehicle fleet in April.

Verizon displayed a hybrid Chevrolet pick-up, an all-electric Chevrolet Volt and a first-of-its-kind hybrid aerial-splicing vehicle. Over the past few years, the company has added hundreds of hybrid Toyota Priuses, as well as more than 500 compressed natural gas vans and 700 hybrid pickups.

Verizon is the first communications company to engineer and deploy a hybrid fiber splicing unit. Because of their weight, these vehicles (commonly known as bucket trucks) traditionally consume significant amounts of fuel. To reduce fuel consumption, the company incorporated a hybrid engine and innovative, onboard batteries that assist in the vehicles’ acceleration, and power the bucket lift and lighting units.

The company will also add several new all-electric Chevrolet Volts to its fleet in 2011. Verizon now has nearly 2,000 alternative-fuel vehicles in its fleet, and plans to have up to 15 percent of it operating with alternative fuels by 2015.