Gilroy – The craze over hybrid cars has reached City Hall, which is purchasing a set of gasoline-electric cars as part of its latest round of vehicle replacement.
On Monday, councilmen are expected to award a $72,191 bid to Santa Cruz Toyota, in Capitola, to purchase three new Prius hybrids – one of the nation’s top-selling fuel-efficient cars.
Like everyday consumers, the city’s interest in hybrids is as much financial as environmental.
“We want to get closer to that technology because obviously the cost savings,” City Administrator Jay Baksa said. “And we want to work with other cities in our Bay Area to reduce pollution.”
The Prius gets 61 miles per gallon in the city and 52 miles per gallon on the highway, according to a local Toyota dealer. In addition to saving on gas, the city will receive a $2,000 grant for each vehicle from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The Toyota hybrid is the fastest-selling model in a rapidly growing sector of the automobile industry.
Gilroy has already experimented with eco-friendly cars, according to Baksa, who said the hybrids will replace two electric cars the city has used for several years. He said they will be returned to the dealers for analysis of “wear and tear.”
Baksa said the new hybrids could be used in public safety by detectives or administrative staff, or by the city’s operations department.
“We’re going to experiment with them in different areas. We want to use them in our pool of cars to see how they do in a lot of situations,” Baksa said.
