Ferrellgas Propane Road Show Continues Driving Green Message Across the USA
By Scott Brockelmeyer, Vice-President Communications and Marketing, Ferrellgas, USA
Few would think of taking a 5.4L V-8 Ford F-250 on a cross-country tour as a way to promote green living but that’s exactly what Ferrellgas employees set out to do a year ago when they were among the first to add the ROUSH liquid propane injected Ford F-250 pickup truck to their alternative fuel fleet.
The propane-Powered F-250 has travelled more than 47K miles (76K kilometres) and visited 30 States (and counting) since then. The Road Show was launched in June 2009 in an effort to educate fleet managers and consumers about the benefits associated with driving propane-powered vehicles versus gasoline vehicles. Fleets can save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the van or truck and that alone is worth switching to propane. But, if you factor in the cleaner emissions and reduction in foreign oil dependency, then it really becomes only a matter of how quickly a company can bring these ROUSH propane vehicles into their fleet.
In fact, after 47K miles travelled, the ROUSH F-250 has produced approximately 5,954 lbs (approx. 2,700KG) less CO2 than its gasoline equivalent. Additionally, we estimate that our fuel cost to date has been approximately $2,469.00 (€ 2,008) less using propane than regular gasoline.
Propane is the number one alternative fuel for the automotive sector, powering more than 8 million vehicles throughout the world and our goal at Ferrellgas is to promote the use of propane as a certified green fuel, as an excellent way for vehicle and machine fleets to curb emissions, and as a great way for fleet owners to lower expenses.
The ROUSH name is recognized around the world as a standard of excellence in the automotive world. In 1976, Jack Roush founded the company - then known as Jack Roush Performance Engineering - the precursor of today’s ROUSH Industries. A Tier One supplier to all the "Big 3" auto manufacturers, ROUSH is a leader in engineering, testing, and manufacturing and is recognized internationally as a premier provider of automotive system integration solutions. ROUSH employs more than 2,000 people in facilities across the globe.
The 2010 Liquid Propane Injected F-250 was manufactured in Livonia, Mich., by ROUSH Performance. In addition to being environmentally friendly, the truck has the same horsepower (300 HP) and torque (365 lb.- ft.) as a comparable gasoline-powered truck. The F-250 in-bed tank provides about 55-gallons (approx. 208 litre) of propane, which will result in a range in excess of 500 miles (approx. 805 kilometres).
ROUSH and the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) have made a multi-million dollar investment in a multi-vehicle, multi-year strategy to sustain a propane-powered line of ROUSH-branded product offerings. In January 2010 ROUSH unveiled the next propane-powered vehicle family in its line up — the ROUSH liquid propane-injected Ford E-150 / E-250 / E-350 passenger and cargo van equipped with the 5.4L V8. E-Series vans achieve Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle II emission standards, which, on average, results in 90 percent cleaner emissions than the average new model year car or truck.
Ferrellgas also recently purchased one of the first 2010 ROUSH liquid propane injection Ford E-350 passenger vans and we are now taking that vehicle on a similar nationwide road show. The ROUSH/Ford E-350 is now being used by Ferrellgas customer Super Shuttle in Phoenix, Arizona, to transport passengers to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Interest in the vehicle has been tremendous, and we expect it to stimulate significant interest in autogas here in the United States.
For additional information about the use of propane as a motor fuel visit www.ferrellgas.com/MotorFuel and www.SwitchToPropane.com
For more information on Ferrellgas, please visit www.ferrellgas.com or email Scott Brockelmeyer on scottbrockelmeyer@ferrellgas.com
