25 May 2001: The city of Denver in Colorado, USA, has taken delivery of 39 Toyota Prius hybrid cars, bringing to 14% the the share of the city's light vehicle fleet that runs on alternate fuels.

The cars will be used by the Denver Fire Department, Parks and Recreation and other city agencies.

Toyota also delivered seven RAV4-EVs electric vehicles, that get 126 miles (200 km) on a charge, which will be leased by companies in the Denver area.

The Prius retails at $19,995 in the US (in Ireland it is £23,735, though 50% of the VRT can be reclaimed) and is selling there at a rate of about 1,000 a month. About 4 percent of Prius sales in the United States go to fleets.

For other electric vehicles such as the RAV4-EV, seven public access charging stations will be built around the Denver area, including at Denver International Airport through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities program. So far this year, Toyota has sold 821 RAV4-Evs in the US. It takes about five to six hours to fully recharge the battery.

The Prius doesn't need charging. TW