AT&T has reached the halfway mark of its commitment to invest up to $565 million to deploy approximately 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over the course of a ten year period through 2018. Since AT&T began its commitment, the company has placed over 7,500 alternative fuel vehicles in 44 states nationwide. The 7,500th vehicle – a 2013 compressed natural gas (CNG) Chevy Express van – was delivered to a U-verse technician in Lenexa, Kansas.
   The CNG van is part of AT&T’s plan to deploy up to 8,000 CNG vehicles to its fleet over a five year period through the end of first quarter 2014 – the largest U.S. corporate commitment to CNG to date. The 7,500 AFVs AT&T has already placed in service are comprised of 5,474 CNG, 1,996 hybrid electric, 27 extended range electric and 3 all-electric vehicles.  AT&T’s deployment of alternative fuel vehicles enabled the company to avoid the purchase of 7.7 million gallons of gasoline from the beginning of the program through the end of 2012.
   “With the help and support of community leaders all over the country, we’ve reached this major milestone and brought thousands of alternative fuel vehicles to U.S. roads,” said Jerome Webber, vice president, AT&T Global Fleet Operations. “These 7,500 vehicles represent reduced emissions, improved fuel efficiency and reduced operational costs. They illustrate our company-wide commitment to sustainability in the communities where we live, work, and play.”
   “As part of the National Clean Fleets program we work with large national fleets. These fleets serve the role as pace-setter, they help to promote the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles by other fleets and by retail consumers,” noted Mark Smith of the US Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program. “Ultimately this gets back to improving our country’s economic, environmental and energy security.”