by Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
South Brunswick is going green with the purchase of two hybrid SUVs for the township’s fleet.
The town purchased one four-wheel drive and one two-wheel drive Ford Escape hybrid from Winner Ford in Cherry Hill for a bid price of $63,648, according to South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese. Both vehicles have four-cylinder engines. The cars will be used by the Utilities Department for inspectors and other tasks.
Hybrids get significantly higher gas mileage than standard cars by running off electricity at lower speeds instead of gasoline. The car is powered by an extra battery, which is recharged by the gasoline engine. The cars automatically switch between running on pure gasoline, pure electricity and a combination of the two depending on the speed of the vehicle.
”We are trying to make our fleet less costly in terms of gasoline,” Mayor Gambatese said. “This is the best way to do it.”
South Brunswick purchased two similar hybrids in 2007, and the mayor said the town will continue to purchase hybrids to replace vehicles that are scheduled to be removed from the fleet. He said the township owns about 325 vehicles, and that he would like to eventually see them all be hybrids, with the exception of heavy trucks like snowplows and police patrol cars.
”Every year we add to our fleet, and we have to really be serious about cost cutting and being environmentally sensitive,” Mayor Gambatese said.
The mayor said the township is working on a plan to reduce energy costs in other ways as well, such as placing solar panels on public buildings to generate electricity. Mayor Gambatese said they are already using energy efficient light bulbs in township buildings.
”This is the time to do it,” he said. “We are optimistic that we can get some of this stuff done. We can’t keep spending these types dollars.”

