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The Toyota RAV-4, a plug-in that runs entirely on electricity, can run 130 miles before it must be recharged.
VAIL, Colorado — As gas prices are rising, one local business is responding by turning up the electricity.
To offset rising gas costs, lower expenses and offer a perk to employees, the Mountain Haus in Vail leased an electric SUV last month.
The electric Toyota RAV-4, which gets the cost equivalent of over 200 miles per gallon of gas, will be used for company and guest errands, Mountain Haus sales manager Matt Drummet said.
Although he wouldn’t specify the cost of the vehicle, Drummet said it was comparable to gas-powered vehicles, but the battery costs around $100,000 to replace. He said the Toyota RAV-4 electric car is available only to companies.
The RAV-4, a plug-in that runs entirely on electricity, can run 130 miles before it must be recharged, Drummet said.
Drummet said the hotel reimbursed employees for around 9,000 miles of driving to run errands for the company last year, and they are hoping to replace those miles of driving with the electric car this year. He said employees also take turns driving the electric car home from work one day a week.
“Everyone’s really excited about it,” he said. “It’s become an employee benefit.”
Gas mileage aside, Drummet is excited that the Mountain Haus hybrid car looks like a normal SUV.
“The electric car doesn’t have to be a golf cart and it doesn’t have to look like an egg,” he said. “It can be a full-sized SUV and go 80 miles per hour on the highway.”
Vail Fleet Manager Todd Scholl said everyone at the city transportation department is also worried about the rising gas prices. The town fleet, which includes police cars and fire department vehicles, contains 12 hybrid vehicles out of 150.
Scholl said he doesn’t anticipate buying an all-electric car in the near future, because he hasn’t found any that fit the needs of the drivers.
To maximize gas mileage, Scholl recommended taking unnecessary weight out of the car, turning the car off instead of idling, and reducing driving speed to around 65 miles per hour.
Scholl said Sonnenalp Resort owns several electric golf carts but he doesn’t know of any other electric cars in the area.
The rise in gas prices has prompted a drop in car sales, but there is still high demand for hybrid cars, local dealers said. Hybrids use a combination of electricity and gas as fuel, and electric cars run entirely on electricity.
Ed Dennis, owner of Avon Autos, said he has been selling small, fuel-efficient Subarus and Volvos, but the car business in general has been suffering.
“We’re selling 50 percent of what we were two years ago,” he said. “It’s been a tightening of the belt.”
Ryan Ramsay, general manager of Summit Ford in Silverthorne, said he has high demand for the Ford Escape Hybrid, but only gets one hybrid each quarter from the manufacturer. Summit Ford Sales Manager J.R. Musser said the Escape Hybrid sells for around $30,000.
Ramsay is waiting for a delivery that he has already sold. “If I had a lapful of [hybrids] I could definitely sell them,” he said.
To offset rising gas costs, lower expenses and offer a perk to employees, the Mountain Haus in Vail leased an electric SUV last month.
The electric Toyota RAV-4, which gets the cost equivalent of over 200 miles per gallon of gas, will be used for company and guest errands, Mountain Haus sales manager Matt Drummet said.
Although he wouldn’t specify the cost of the vehicle, Drummet said it was comparable to gas-powered vehicles, but the battery costs around $100,000 to replace. He said the Toyota RAV-4 electric car is available only to companies.
The RAV-4, a plug-in that runs entirely on electricity, can run 130 miles before it must be recharged, Drummet said.
Drummet said the hotel reimbursed employees for around 9,000 miles of driving to run errands for the company last year, and they are hoping to replace those miles of driving with the electric car this year. He said employees also take turns driving the electric car home from work one day a week.
“Everyone’s really excited about it,” he said. “It’s become an employee benefit.”
Gas mileage aside, Drummet is excited that the Mountain Haus hybrid car looks like a normal SUV.
“The electric car doesn’t have to be a golf cart and it doesn’t have to look like an egg,” he said. “It can be a full-sized SUV and go 80 miles per hour on the highway.”
Vail Fleet Manager Todd Scholl said everyone at the city transportation department is also worried about the rising gas prices. The town fleet, which includes police cars and fire department vehicles, contains 12 hybrid vehicles out of 150.
Scholl said he doesn’t anticipate buying an all-electric car in the near future, because he hasn’t found any that fit the needs of the drivers.
To maximize gas mileage, Scholl recommended taking unnecessary weight out of the car, turning the car off instead of idling, and reducing driving speed to around 65 miles per hour.
Scholl said Sonnenalp Resort owns several electric golf carts but he doesn’t know of any other electric cars in the area.
The rise in gas prices has prompted a drop in car sales, but there is still high demand for hybrid cars, local dealers said. Hybrids use a combination of electricity and gas as fuel, and electric cars run entirely on electricity.
Ed Dennis, owner of Avon Autos, said he has been selling small, fuel-efficient Subarus and Volvos, but the car business in general has been suffering.
“We’re selling 50 percent of what we were two years ago,” he said. “It’s been a tightening of the belt.”
Ryan Ramsay, general manager of Summit Ford in Silverthorne, said he has high demand for the Ford Escape Hybrid, but only gets one hybrid each quarter from the manufacturer. Summit Ford Sales Manager J.R. Musser said the Escape Hybrid sells for around $30,000.
Ramsay is waiting for a delivery that he has already sold. “If I had a lapful of [hybrids] I could definitely sell them,” he said.
