Helping patients and the planet
60,304 miles. That’s how far UW Laboratory Medicine’s couriers have traveled in their new all-electric vehicles since receiving them from Fleet Services in June.
Lab Medicine serves as a resource for clinical laboratory services required for patient care and educational programs around the region. The department’s need to transport large numbers of lab samples among multiple medical facilities, including UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, means the department requires its own set of courier vehicles.
Enter UW Fleet Services. The flexibility of having a designated rented fleet of vehicles to transport samples wherever and whenever needed removes stress out of the important work that Lab Medicine is doing. The new electric fleet means they’re removing stress from the environment as well.
The Department of Laboratory Medicine now relies on eco-friendly, all-electric Chevrolet Bolt cars like this one to transport lab samples throughout the region.
Since picking up the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles in June, Lab Medicine has saved 1,429 gallons in fuel. That’s the equivalent of preventing 25,264 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
In addition to helping save the environment, Lab Medicine is also saving money.The department has cut roughly $5,000 in fuel costs by turning its courier vehicles into an all-electric fleet. And, Lab Medicine is gaining more mileage with the Chevrolet Bolt cars than with the previous set of vehicles, Priuses, that were not fully-electric. With the Bolts, the department is getting almost 240 miles with a full charge.
“I am enthusiastic about our operation going all-electric,” says Tom Zeiler, courier supervisor for Lab Medicine.“The transition has gone smoothly. I can also say that the response from our drivers has been very positive.”
