Sunday 1 August 2010

GSA adding 5,600 hybrid vehicles, but higher cost remains issue

A massive fleet of new hybrid vehicles is arriving at federal agencies this summer as part of an unprecedented effort to offload the government's least fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
The General Services Administration earlier this year purchased more than 5,600 hybrid vehicles, which pair an electric motor with a traditional gasoline-powered engine. The move single-handedly doubled the government's inventory of hybrid vehicles.
GSA is leasing the new hybrid vehicles to agencies as they trade in their older vehicles, which GSA will sell at auction.
GSA received the first batch of vehicles about a month ago and will continue to receive new vehicles throughout the summer as they roll off the assembly line, said Bill Toth, director of GSA's Office of Motor Vehicle Management.
The new vehicles will go a long way toward helping agencies cut gasoline consumption and reduce their carbon footprints. Nearly all of the hybrid vehicles GSA purchased are 2010 Ford Fusions, a midsized sedan that gets 39 mph on city streets and highways combined — second in class only to the Toyota Prius. The Fusion emits 4.8 tons of carbon dioxide annually, compared with 7.5 tons for the nonhybrid version.

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