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Monday, June 23, 2008 , Updated

Grand Prairie department replaces staff cars with Toyota Prius hybrids

by PegNews wire

GRAND PRAIRIE—Spending a large portion of their budget on fuel is becoming a thing of the past for the City of Grand Prairie’s Housing and Neighborhood Services Department (HNS).

Toyota Prius." class="gallery"> A <a href="http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car6.htm">Toyota Prius</a>.

A Toyota Prius.

HNS Director William A. Hills led the city’s conservation efforts by replacing six staff vehicles with Toyota Prius Hybrids which are twice as efficient as the city’s previously used vehicles.

“These are great little cars,” said Hills. “We save lots of money in gasoline and the hybrid is better for the environment.”

Housing Enforcement Officers travel 75-100 miles daily and needed something more practical and fuel-efficient. The vehicles that the department previously used, such as the Ford Taurus, would consume an estimated average of $85 per week at $4 per gallon, whereas the Prius cuts that in half requiring only about $35 under identical conditions.

The Toyota Prius, estimated to be the most fuel-efficient car in the country, can be fueled by both gasoline as well as electricity.

purchasing two of these badonkadonks." class="gallery">

Meanwhile, GP's Police Department recently went the opposite direction by <a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/jun/18/grand-prairie-police-get-two-new-gang-fighting-che/">purchasing two of these badonkadonks</a>.

Meanwhile, GP's Police Department recently went the opposite direction by purchasing two of these badonkadonks.

This saves HNS about $2,370 per car per year, or a $14,220 total among the six cars. The city bought the six vehicles through a cooperative purchasing program with the Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments for $143,277.

“We are definitely looking at hybrid cars as we replace other vehicles in the city’s fleet,” said Grand Prairie City Manager Tom Hart.

Posted by Chad / info from City of Grand Prairie

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Anonymous

12ozfred, says:

The police dept. went for the V8 and the HNS decided on the Prius...it kinda' fits the purpose. I find it hard to picture a Prius in the middle of a high speed chase...

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Scott Doyle, says:

I find it humorous to picture a Prius in a high speed chase. =p

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Jason Rice, says:

Yep - anything dumb you can imagine

Sadly I work with performance junkies and have the sad wisdom to have owned a Prius as soon as they came out. I've seen 'em all.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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DC, says:

Maybe they're going for a 'Tortise-Hare' theory of chase - just wait till the accused run out of gas

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Rawlins Gilliland, says:

Earlier this century, our government was subsidizing the largest 'luxury' SUV sales by giving buyers an IRS tax credit since those behemoths fell through the cracks as a'work' vehicle' truck. Many times the tax savings were in the thousands of dollars. Too...as a result, those SUVs also were given lower emission standards vs. regular autos. So recap here: At a time of war in the Middle East oil turf no less, Americans were actually being rewarded for buying a Hummer, Navigator, Escalade, Expedition. 8-11 MPG?

The moral to this story?

Meanwhile, Toyota was designing and building cars for the 21rst century. And now we are suddenly all wondering how Detroit is yesterday's news and Toyota is #1 world wide?

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chasd00, says:

best bang for the buck is a used, decently fuel efficient, compact car. Think 2007 or 2006 Honda Civic.

If you price a used Civic and a new Prius you'll see that it will take years and years for the fuel efficiency of the Prius to pay for its higher price.

Also, a used car is better for the environment (emissions aside) since it has already been built for a previous owner. Buying a used car means saving an entire car coming off the assembly line.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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Jason Rice, says:

Chasd00 is actually quite correct on the small car. Don't get me wrong. I'm a tech-lust victim, not a treehugger. The original Prius was a freakin' space shuttle compared to its contemporaries. Amazing engineering.

The Edmunds True Cost to Own puts it into perspective. The yuppies dumping their Hummers to hop into a "money saving" Prius are ... well, smart enough to have bought a Hummer to start. So there ya go.

I do miss the little live "Energy Monitor Screen" on the 2001. You could see what parts of the system were engaged when and where the power was active, passive, regenerating, etc - all on a little LCD screen. It looks more "Mr. Wizard" than the new ones. Oh, sure it was even more distracting than a cell phone, but it was my wife's car so I just sat and watched the little screen. I joked it was to keep me from watching her drive.

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1 year, 5 months ago
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xdavidwattsx, says:

I really hate that argument. "x" used care if a better buy than a Prius and therefore yuppies who buy a Prius are stupid.

Let's recap - most small used cars are going to be a more effective purchase than ANY new car - even a Civic. I also don't get the "it's already been built for a previous owner". Uh, ok. That owner went and got another car so pretty sure that's offset.

Moral of the story, the Prius is a great car and if you're buying a NEW vehicle there's certainly nothing wrong with it.