In a speech this week the US Secretary of the Navy identified five key energy targets for the Navy to meet by 2020.  One of these goals is to reduce petroleum use in their commercial fleet of vehicles by 50% by 2015.  The fleet numbers approximately 50,000 vehicles.  As the vehicles are retired the Navy expects to replace them with hybrids, flex fuel and low speed vehicles. Learn more:  Greencarcongress.com

Comment: When the Army first announced their plans for purchasing LSVs they mentioned the Air Force and Navy possibly piggybacking on their efforts but this is the first time we have seen any official statements about the Navy acquiring LSVs.  While the Army’s initial purchase is 4,000 LSVs over three years, they noted that 10,000 vehicles could eventually be purchased and estimated a similar amount for each the Navy and the Air Force.  I would expect the Navy’s acquisition would boost demand for LSVs in the range of 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles per year over the next five years. With the Army and Navy on board the Air Force may also follow suit and make the US military a major factor in the market. – Marc Cesare