The New York Times announced today that it has been selected to receive the first medium-duty plug-in hybrid vehicle on the East Coast of the United States, and the first of its kind in New York State, as part of a commercial fleet performance demonstration and technology evaluation process.The van, a Dodge Sprinter plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), will be housed at The New York Times printing plant in College Point, Queens. It will be used to transport New York Times newspapers to The Times’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan, as well as to different locations in the New York City area. It will also travel to The Times’s plant in Edison, N.J.

The Dodge Sprinter plug-in hybrid was made available to The Times by a partnership between DaimlerChrysler, the New York Power Authority (NYPA), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Con Edison. The partnership was created to test and evaluate plug-in hybrid technology in real world driving environments. DaimlerChrysler is the only automaker to test plug-in hybrid technology with customers within the United States. EPRI studies indicate that fleet applications offer the best opportunity for early demonstration of plug-in hybrids.

“We are proud that The New York Times is the first major entity in the State of New York with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in our fleet,” said Tom Lombardo, vice president, production, The New York Times. “When we were approached by NYPA and DaimlerChrysler, we knew immediately that we wanted to be involved. We are delighted to be supporting the use of clean energy, sustainability and advances in plug-in hybrid technology.”

“Alliances such as this are necessary for new technologies to move forward,” said Mark Chernoby, vice president - advance vehicle engineering, Chrysler Group. “The daily operation of The New York Times Dodge Sprinter plug-in hybrid will give DaimlerChrysler the valuable real world experience needed for hybrid powertrain and lithium-ion battery development.”

“The New York Power Authority has a long record of green initiatives to help improve air-quality in the New York City area and we are fully committed to putting emission-free and reduced emission vehicles on the City’s streets,” said Timothy S. Carey, president and CEO, NYPA. “We are especially pleased to help demonstrate a hybrid electric vehicle that is so versatile you can plug it into the house to charge it up. In the future, vehicles like this one could be used to power a house in the event of a power interruption.”

“The New York Times Hybrid Sprinter evaluation represents an important milestone in EPRI’s PHEV research and development program that began in 1999,” said Arshad Mansoor, vice president, power delivery and markets sector, EPRI. “The test data collected will help determine the technologies that need to be incorporated into a production design, facilitating the effort to make PHEV’s commercially available.”

“Con Edison’s research and development group recognizes the potential that hybrid plug-in electric vehicles have to make a profound impact on the environment,” said Randolph S. Price, vice president for environment, health and safety, Con Edison. “Electric vehicles have the potential to dramatically lessen our country’s dependence on foreign oil and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As the electric supplier for nine million New Yorkers, Con Edison is on the lookout for new, environmentally friendly applications for the electric grid.”

Plug-in hybrids can operate in all-electric or hybrid mode. They have larger batteries than traditional hybrids, which allow them to travel long distances in electric-only mode. The Dodge Sprinter plug-in hybrid has an electric range of up to 20 miles. On short urban routes with a lot of stop-and-go driving the vehicle can operate for most of the day in zero-emission electric mode. In hybrid mode the vehicle performs like a traditional hybrid, with improved fuel economy and lower emissions compared to a conventional diesel or gasoline vehicle. The plug-in technology lends itself to commercial applications where the vehicle returns to base after each shift to be plugged into the power grid. The New York Times PHEV will be recharged overnight, a very good use of off-peak, low cost electricity.