MOUNT HOLYOKE ADDS TWO LOW-EMISSION,
FUEL-EFFICIENT HYBRID CARS TO VEHICLE FLEET

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Mount Holyoke College has purchased two Toyota Prius hybrid electric-gas vehicles, adding the high-mileage, low-pollution cars to its fleet of vehicles used by faculty, staff, and students who are traveling on College business.

The vehicles get up to 52 miles per gallon in the city and are certified by the California Air Resources Board as Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicles, emitting 90 percent fewer smog-forming emissions than Ultra Low Emission Vehicles. Driven at the average of 20,000 miles per year, the pair of five-passenger hybrids could save as much as 1,200 gallons of gasoline annually compared with the two Ford Taurus sedans they replace.

The purchase of the hybrid vehicles is "perfectly in line with the goal of the institution to be a good environmental steward," says Paul Ominsky, the College's director of public safety, who chose the vehicles. The sedans each cost just under $20,000, and were delivered after a three-month wait.

Sold in the United States since the summer of 2000, the Prius is the world's first mass-produced hybrid electric-gas vehicle. Its design combines a 70-horsepower gasoline engine and a 44-horsepower electric motor. It automatically switches between the gasoline engine and electric motor, depending on driving needs. Because the gasoline engine recharges an onboard battery pack, the vehicle never needs to be plugged in.

The purchase of the hybrids is part of the College's demonstrated commitment to good stewardship of the environment. The major construction projects – the construction of Kendade Hall, the heart of the College's new science complex (opened in September 2002), the reconstruction of Carr Laboratory (reopened in January 2002), and the reconstruction of Blanchard Campus Center (to reopen in the fall of 2003) are "green" projects, built in accordance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria established by the United States Green Building Council.