Stamford Mayor Test Drives Chevy Volt for City

STAMFORD, Conn. — The city’s gas bill will be much lower this month as Mayor Michael Pavia and several others drive Chevy Volts around Stamford.

The 30-day test drive began after Kurt Ostheimer, a Stamford resident and Volt owner, kept pestering the mayor to try the electric car. “He can’t get enough of her,” Pavia said jokingly of Ostheimer’s passion for the car as he announced the trial at a news conference Friday.

The Stamford resident brags that since he bought his 2011 Volt, he has used only about one gallon of gas in driving 11,000 miles. He estimates he spends about 4 cents per mile in electricity. Ostheimer drives back and forth to Rye, N.Y., every day and charges the vehicle whenever he can — which he says is better for it.

“There really is nothing I don’t like,” he said, adding the ride is better than his Audi.

The city is considering adding the Volt or other electric vehicles to its fleet, but the base cost of just less than $40,000 is a concern, despite the environmental benefits and gas savings, said Michael Scacco, Stamford's director of fleet maintenance.

The two vehicles for the test drive came from Loehmann Blasius Chevrolet in Waterbury and Karl Chevrolet in New Canaan. Friday’s news conference took place in the Summer Street Parking Garage, where one of the city's public, electric vehicle charging stations is located.

To see what else the city is doing to be more environmentally friendly and to see what you can do, visit Sustainable Stamford’s website.

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