ATLANTA – AT&T has purchased 101 new Chevrolet Express Cargo 2500 vans powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) for its customer service fleet, increasing the total number of alternative-fuel vehicles the company uses in its fleet.

Automotive Fleet interviewed AT&T's Vice President of Fleet Services Jerome Webber earlier this year about its alternative-fuel vehicle program for an upcoming article. He noted that in 2009, the company had announced a goal to deploy 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles by the end of 2018.

As of January of this year, AT&T told Automotive Fleet it had 2,477 CNG-powered vehicles in its fleet out of more than 3,500 alternative-fuel vehicles. This number of vehicles is part of the company's total fleet of 73,500 vehicles. According to an AT&T spokesperson, although the new GM vehicles have been purchased, they are not actually deployed yet, so they are not included in the total.

General Motors commented on the addition of CNG-powered vehicles to AT&T’s fleet in a news release.

“As more of our customers transition their conventional fleets to fuel-efficient and reduced-emission vehicles, we will continue to provide a one-stop shop to help them achieve their environmental goals,” said Brian Small, general manager, GM Fleet and Commercial Operations. “In addition to its leading-edge fuel system technology, every CNG van we produce is also engineered to rigorous GM standards for durability, safety and reliability.”

GM stated the purchase is consistent with AT&T’s alternative fuel strategy to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and to support sustainable transportation. The automaker noted that CNG-powered vans can produce 25 percent fewer emissions than similar gasoline- and diesel-powered vans.

GM said the vans get gasoline-equivalent fuel economy of 11 mpg city and 16 mpg highway. Fuel tank capacity ranges from 15.8 to 23 gasoline-equivalent gallons. The CNG option is available on Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana 2500 and 3500 Cargo vans.

By Greg Basich and Lauren Fletcher