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Obama Buys 25 Percent of US Hybrids

The US government has always supported the green car market, so nobody should be surprised when hearing that the White House administration has purchased the biggest number of hybrid vehicles in the country. Citing official sales data, Bloomberg notes that the US General Services Administration bought nearly 25 percent of all hybrids sold in the United States, raising the number of sold hybrid cars from 1 percent to 10 percent in two years.

What's interesting is that most of the hybrids purchased by the US administration were delivered after Obama took over the US presidency in January 2009. Specifically, the government bought a total of 145,473 cars in the last two fiscal years, out of which 14,584 units were hybrids.

“This is the beginning,” Sara Merriam, a spokeswoman for the agency, said. “Our main goal is to increase the fuel efficiency of the federal fleet. The other goal is to drive the market toward cleaner technologies. It’s in the early stages of the government acquiring more hybrids and in larger quantities.”

The news shouldn't be surprising at all, as the US government ordered no less than 5,600 hybrid vehicles in April 2010, in a move that was said to save an overall 385,000 barrels of oil. At that time, US officials said that the government hopes to save 7.7 million gallons of gas, or 385,000 barrels of oil by replacing its fleet. In addition to GSA, the Department of Energy (DoE) will replace 753 vehicles with hybrids.

"We're going to lead by example and practice what we preach: cutting waste, saving energy and reducing our reliance on foreign oil,"
president Obama said when announcing the order.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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