By Leftlane Staff
Thursday, Nov 10th, 2005 @ 3:35 pm

Ford Motor on Thursday introduced a mini-fleet of hybrid taxicabs to serve New York City, part of its push to promote cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Initially, only six Ford Escape hybrids will enter New York’s taxi fleet. But city officials said the entire fleet of about 13,000 vehicles may be converted to gas-electric hybrids within five years. “Hybrids save our customers money at the pump, and they reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil,” Chief Executive Bill Ford said at an event to unveil the vehicles at a Ford dealership in Manhattan. The Ford hybrid Escape gets as much as 36 miles per gallon in city driving, double the mileage of the taxi fleet’s current Ford Crown Victoria model. A test model drove more than 500 miles on one tank of gas in New York, the CEO said.

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