Countywide : Methanol-Gas Cars May be Purchased

Ventura County is scheduled to decide today whether to buy up to three new cars that run on methanol as well as on gasoline.

If the Board of Supervisors approves the purchases, the cars will be assigned to departments that need to replace vehicles, officials said. Under the proposal from the county General Services Department, no car could cost more than 15% above the price of a conventional car.

Since 1986, the county has used eight Ford Escorts that run on methanol. The cars’ emissions are cleaner, but they get only about half the mileage of conventional automobiles, said Tom Womack, chief deputy director of the general services agency.

Also, since few service stations carry methanol, Womack said, the cars have been limited to a 150-mile radius so that drivers will not be stranded.

“The second-generation cars have the advantage of being able to run on either type of fuel depending on the situation,” Womack said.

“The technology for alternate-fuel vehicles continues to get better and better,” he said, and the county will probably continue to experiment with different types of cars.