For a recent midweek reservation in Manhattan, the Prius cost $127 a day (not including any insurance), only $7 more than for a regular gas-powered Toyota Corolla.
Barry Rehfeld - The Oregonian - Aug. 12, 2007
Toyota Prius of the OZOcar fleet sit in their lot in Long Island City. Satellite radio, as well as wireless internet access, are standard. Photo by Jefferson Siegel.
Roo Rogers, who lives in Lower Manhattan, helps reduce auto emissions by not owning a car. But he still likes to take the wheel for occasional multistop spins around town, for hundred-mile drives to a vacation home on Long Island and for business trips when he's in California.
When he rents a car or uses a car-sharing service, Rogers tries to help the environment a little more by driving only a hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius. And he has ridden to the airport using OZOcar, a car service of which he was a founder; it has an all-hybrid fleet of Priuses and a few Lexuses.
"The Prius is the most practical and sustainable car with the best gas mileage," he said. "And I don't have the problems of parking, the insurance and even the gas whenever I go anywhere."
In city driving, the Prius gets 60 miles for each gallon of gas -- a dozen more than its main competitor, the Honda Civic Hybrid, and double the urban range of the highest-mileage gasoline-only cars, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
As more consumers express concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, and as gasoline prices rise, rental car companies are reshaping their fleets. In June, Enterprise, Hertz and Avis, the largest renters, added several thousand Priuses to their fleets, as well as other hybrids, and more are on the way
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