The Honolulu Police Department is going green this summer by adding seven gas/electric hybrid vehicles to its fleet.

Department spokesman Maj. Frank Fujii said six sedans and a sports utility vehicle will be acquired through a bidding process. A growing number of national and international jurisdictions have been turning to hybrids as an alternative to gas-guzzling vehicles.

Fuel costs account for $1 out of every $6 spent by HPD, Fujii said.

Police could spend up to $30,000 each for six sedans and $51,000 for a sports utility vehicle, Fujii said. The hybrid sedans would be cheaper than the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor currently being used by HPD, Fujii added.

The hybrid SUV will be used as a mobile command vehicle by staff , Fujii said. It will not be bullet-proof or exclusively for the chief's use, which was previously reported in The Advertiser.

"One-half of the subsidized vehicles in our fleet are SUVs," Fujii noted, "so we need to test (the hybrid's) capabilities."

Among the hybrid options currently being used by police elsewhere are the Lexus RX400h sports utility vehicle and Lexus GS450h sedan, Toyota Prius, Ford's flexible-fuel version of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor and the Mercury Marine SUV.

A September 2006 Northern Illinois University news article stated that its Department of Public Safety fleet was 80 percent hybrid with 12 Prius cars being used for patrol.

The article stated:

"The compact cars alternately operate on an electric motor or a gasoline engine, depending upon power requirements and the need to charge the battery, which is done automatically by the gasoline engine. Where the department's fleet of Crown Victorias previously averaged less than 10 miles per gallon, the Prius sips gasoline at a rate of about 44 mpg."

Hampshire police in the United Kingdom supported the claim that the GS450h sedans could accelerate from 0-62 mph in 5.9 seconds and get 35.8 mpg.