Written by Madiha Boolani, Four Green Steps

Over the past few years, there has been a growing trend in companies trying to be socially responsible and adopt eco friendly and green business practices. Recently Toyota and Yahoo partnered with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to add the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid demonstration vehicle (PHV) to the WeCar program for Yahoo! employees at the company's Sunnyvale campus.

The WeCar by Enterprise is a car-sharing, automated program which provides environmentally friendly transportation to its members, whether it is for an hour, a day, a weekend or longer. WeCar at Yahoo! complements Yahoo’s Enterprise Rideshare program which makes use of a Vanpool commuter system, hence making transportation to work efficient and green, help decrease congestion and traffic, reduce commuter time and decrease harmful greenhouse gases into the surroundings.

Enterprise has previously introduced electric cars in various states like California, as well as Oregon, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, Hawaii, North Carolina and New York. Furthermore, the company plans to add move EVs in new markets through their neighbourhood locations, local business rental programs and WeCar car-sharing programs.

Toyota is delivering more than 160 Prius PHV vehicles across the United States as part of a demonstration program. The program will help in creating awareness and informing consumers about plug-in hybrid technology as well as gain real world driving data. The Toyota Prius is capable of running on electricity for approximately 13 miles at a speed of up to 62 mph when fully charged. After this distance, the car starts working like a normal hybrid Prius on conventional hybrid mode. The Prius PHV takes approximately three hours to fully charge from a standard 110-volt electrical outlet, or 90 minutes with a 220-volt connection.

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