Besides being cleaner, electric vehicles can help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Maintenance is easier since an electric vehicle has no radiator, oil or gas filter, muffler or spark plugs. Since electric vehicles, in most cases, rely on power plants for their fuel, questions have been raised about indirect environmental impacts. The New York Power Authority generates about 90 percent of its electricity from nonpolluting hydroelectric and nuclear power sources. Yet, even when a vehicle's electricity is produced by a fossil fueled-plant, emission control is easier and more effective when done at a central source rather than from hundreds of thousands of tailpipes.
Electric vehicles are also more efficient.
Our electric vehicle initiatives also boost the New York State economy. Electric transit buses being used in New York City are providing jobs at upstate industries such as Lockheed Martin, Orion Bus and NovaBus. NYPA administers funding for the Alternative Fuels Technology Center at the former Griffiss Air Force Base, now the Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome, Oneida County. We helped attract Baker Electromotive of Virginia to Griffiss, where a facility is planned to convert U. S. Postal Service vehicles to run on electricity, with the potential creation of more than 100 jobs. The Power Authority is working with the Empire State Development Corp. to attract other businesses involved with alternative-fueled vehicles as well.