Many of these are in remote areas and owners often cannot afford delivery vans.

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But BMW points out that the AutoData Corp. sales statistics for Mercedes-Benz included nearly 15, 000 Sprinter vans that are commonly used as commercial vehicles, like delivery vans, hotel or airport shuttles.

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Add VPG to the growing list of recent green car failures: Bright Automotive (electric delivery vans) , Carbon Motors (clean diesel-powered police cars), Aptera Motors (three-wheeled electric cars), Coda Automotive (inexpensive electric sedans) and, arguably the most infamous, Fisker Automotive (plug-in hybrid sports cars).

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Heavy-duty pickups and vehicles like buses, delivery trucks, or vans would save one gallon for every 100 miles traveled.

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The company had a staff of 1, 500--most of them delivery people using bikes, scooters, cars and vans to get that copy of The Breakfast Club across town.

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