News 12 at 6 o'clock, April 30, 2010

FORT GORDON, Ga.---The U.S. Army is going green, and Fort Gordon is on the cutting edge of some new technology. News 12 got to take the Army's newest vehicle for a test drive.

They call it the Evee, which is short for Electric Vehicle. Aside from having four tires and a steering wheel, they don't look like anything else on the road at this military post.

They have 15 Evees on post. Some have four seats; others are set up like a pickup truck. The vehicles will be distributed all around Fort Gordon.

The Army has the federal government's largest fleet of hybrid vehicles, with more than 500 distributed nationwide.

"Well one, it saves money on fuel costs," said environmental scientist Neal McClellan. "Any time we spend money on fuel costs, we take it from somewhere else. It could go to training, it could go to equipment."

They take about eight hours to charge, and they'll run anywhere from six to ten hours on a full charge.

News 12 asked Director of Logistics Allan Marble, "Now we all know the Army gave us the Jeep and the Humvee. Is this the next big thing to hit the road?"

"Sir, I would not go quite that far," Marble laughed, "but I will tell you: you will see these more frequently on most military installations."

The Evees are made by Columbia ParCar Corp. of Wisconsin. The military price is about $9000 each, but remember, they buy in bulk.

In our test drive, we had the pedal to the floor, and we didn't even seem to hit 30. But on a sprawling Army post where the speed limit is 25 along the main drag, the vehicles might be a great way to save gas.