Georgia Power Co. will be donating an electric Dodge Caravan, TEVan, to Chattahoochee Technical school in Marietta. Richard Holmes, metro west region manager of Georgia Power will be delivering the truck on March 17 at 10 a.m.

Chattahoochee Tech recently sent several instructors to Georgia Power`s electric vehicle service center for a week-long course in electric-vehicle maintenance. This training gave these fleet operators a hands-on experience with state-of-the-art electric vehicles.

"This type of training and opportunity has given students of Chattahoochee Tech a chance to experience unique technologies in the automotive industry," said Doctor Harlon Crimm of Chattahoochee Tech. That`s one of the reasons we were selected as the first place winner of the American Vocational Association/American Automobile Manufacturers Association Industry Planning Council for excellence in automotive service programs."

The TEVan is a modified version of Chrysler`s best-selling Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager minivans. The TEVan is equipped with a 35 horsepower continuous/70 horsepower peak, DC electric motor and weighs about 5,150 pounds. The TEVan has a range of approximately 40 to 60 miles on a single, overnight charge and travels at a top speed of 70 mph.

Under the Energy Policy Act and the Clean Air Act, 50 percent of light-duty vehicle purchases for the model year 1998 must be alternative fueled. This initiative effects not only federal and state fleets, but utility fleets as well.

"The clean air initiatives went into effect in January of 1998, and we would like to encourage fleet owners to make their alternative-fuel choice an electric one," said Mike Anderson, manager of electric transportation for Georgia Power.

By 1999, 75 percent of vehicle purchases for federal agency fleets must be alternative-fueled vehicles. By 2001, 90 percent of utility and 75 percent of state light-duty vehicle acquisitions must be clean, alternative-fueled.

"Our goal is that they all be electric vehicles," Anderson added.

Georgia Power is the largest of five operating companies that comprise Southern Company, one of the largest investor-owned electric utility groups in the nation. As part of its commitment to electric vehicles, Georgia Power participates in industry associations at both the national and local levels.