Carpentersville looking at more fuel-efficient cars

Starting next year, fuel economy will be one of the factors Carpentersville trustees weigh before buying new vehicles for village employees.

The new direction came this week during a discussion about the 2011 Ford Taurus SES that the police department asked the board to buy for its fleet.

The $19,257.75 car would replace a 1999 Lexus GS300 currently used for undercover work that has racked up 95,227 miles.

The investigations division would use the new car for covert operations as well and on rare occasions officers could use the car to conduct traffic stops and for emergency situations, Police Chief Dave Neumann said.

But pointing to the monthly bills list that shows the department spent $11,477.24 on gasoline and diesel fuel, freshman Trustee Doug Marks suggested trustees save gas money by purchasing 4-cylinder vehicles that get at least 25 miles per gallon on the street.

According to Mike Hanson, a salesman at Spring Hill Ford in East Dundee, the Taurus SES gets 18 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. Trustee Pat Schultz said the fuel efficiency of her 2005 Taurus left a lot to be desired.

With gas prices hovering at $4 a gallon, Schultz and Marks say the time to start saving is now.

“The economy isn’t going up, but fuel prices are,” Marks said. “So we need to think about being a little more cost conscious.”

But Chief Neumann defended the Taurus.

“It’s a reliable car and it’s under state bid,” Neumann said. “And there are some other vehicles that are fuel efficient, but this is with the state bid and we like the Tauruses.”

Carpentersville is one of 143 towns in the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative, a group that secures governmental vehicle purchases, like the Taurus, at competitive prices for its members.

Village Manager J. Mark Rooney will take those comments into consideration during next year’s budget talks and detail options for fuel-efficient vehicles. It likely will become a consistent policy for all future vehicle purchases that involve village employees.