Police
The Capital City of Springfield Illinois Police Department
“In 2012, the City of Springfield began looking into propane autogas as an effective way to not only lower fleet fuel and maintenance costs, but also improve the environment by lowering harmful emissions. Recently, The Springfield Illinois Police Department substantially bolstered our propane autogas fleet by equipping 40 new police patrol vehicles with ICOM liquid propane systems. Vehicle performance enhancements, tens of thousands of dollars in savings, and a lower carbon footprint have made the systems a hit within the City of Springfield. With those results, I have no doubt that we will look to continue expanding our propane autogas fleet in the future.”
William McCarty
Director, Office of Budget & Management, City of Springfield, IL
Shuttle Fleets/Livery
Metro Cars Detroit and Grand Rapids Airport
Known for its iconic black cars at Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Cars is no ordinary transportation service provider. Nearly all of its more than 300 vehicles in southeast Michigan are operated on propane.
Metro Cars partnered with ICOM North America, a Michigan-based manufacturer known for its sought-after patented Liquid Injection Propane systems and longevity in the alternative fuels industry.
Dave Satawa noted it’s incredible how much fuel savings the company and its drivers are seeing. Metro Cars’ large fleet of 300 sedans and shuttles drive more than 23 million miles per year. He noted that, “When we can save the company and our drivers on fuel costs, the operational savings are tremendous.”
Satawa also believes that the emissions benefits help them with efforts related to corporate citizenship, marketing their vehicles, and attracting the best drivers in the area.
What’s next for Satawa and Metro Cars? The company has already expanded its operations to West Michigan, operating a somewhat smaller fleet of propane vehicles in the Grand Rapids Metro area, and continues to pursue opportunities in other markets to expand their alternative fuel footprint.
Trolleys
Historic Tours of America
“Historic Tours of America operates 165 converted propane tour vehicles, including trolleys, buses, and Conch Tour Trains in six different cities. We have been utilizing ICOM Bifuel Liquid Injection Systems for the past 5 years and are very satisfied. The fleet appreciates that clean propane autogas leads to longer engine life, lower total cost of ownership and reduced emissions.”
Joe Moyer
Historic Tours of America Fleet Manager
Delivery
Hocon Gas
“Hocon Gas has used propane autogas to power its vehicles for over 40 years. Until recently, every system we used provided vapor propane to the engine and although they may have seemed to run well, we could never keep things like check engine lights from coming on and pass the emissions requirements.
Two years ago we began installing ICOM bi-fuel liquid injection propane autogas systems on 15 of our 30 now primarily Ford vehicles which range from the F150 to the F550 as we cycle out the older vehicles. By installing the bi-fuel systems, our drivers don’t have range anxiety associated with using an alternative fuel because they can always switch back to gasoline if needed. We also run two Freightliner S2G propane delivery vehicles. Our landscape division has converted 6-F250 along with 12 mowers. Every new gasoline powered vehicle we purchase gets upfitted with a new ICOM liquid injection bi-fuel system.
These systems were installed by Cusson Automotive who did an outstanding job installing them. Our vehicles upfitted with the ICOM Systems have been trouble-free with better torque, zero cold start issues, no need to be plugged in during cold weather reduced maintenance expense. ICOM Systems and Cusson Automotive have become great partners with Hocon Gas.”
David Gable
Hocon Gas President