It's time to say adios to the classic yellow Ford Crown Vic. In May 2007, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to transform the city's ubiquitous yellow cab fleet from the old school Ford Crown Victorias to all hybrids. For the past couple of years, a variety of hybrid vehicles have been gradually infiltrating the fleet and generally performing well. Ford Escape hybrids have become a common site on the streets of Manhattan. Under the new rules, starting this October all new cabs coming into the fleet will be required to get 25 mpg in the city with that number jumping to 30 mpg in 2009. That essentially means the end of the Crown Vic. The city has now reached agreement with Nissan, Ford and GM to supply a steady stream hybrid vehicles for taxi use. Nissan will offer up 200 Altima hybrids every month while Ford and Chevrolet will provide 50 each of its Escape and Malibu hybrids every month. These 300 vehicles per month will ensure that there are sufficient supplies to meet the turnover needs of the fleet over the next several years and replace the entire fleet by 2012.

[Source: New York Times]

I was in Manhattan for a couple of days this week on a press event and noticed a new addition to the local cab fleet. For years now, the classic Crown Vics have been getting supplemented by Toyota Siennas, Ford Escape hybrids and the odd Prius. While cabbies love the mileage they get with the Prius and Escape, the passengers aren't always so thrilled with the volume available in the back seat. This is where the Nissan Altima hybrid comes in. The Altima has a roomier back seat than the other two hybrids, making it more suitable to the task. Unfortunately, that battery sucks up about a third of the trunk volume, making the Altima less suitable if your destination is one of the New York area airports. When we had an Altima Hybrid in the ABG Garage last year it managed 32.4mpg, which is quite respectable. Plus, it's probably the most attractive yellow car prowling the streets of Gotham right now.

[Source: TreeHugger]

Nissan announced pricing for the new 2008 Altima Hybrid yesterday. We recently reviewed the 2007 model, and if you liked what you read there, the updated version will set you back at least $25,070 (MSRP). Well, don't forget the IRS tax credit of $2,350 and whatever you can finagle from the dealer (invoice price is $23,498).

The 2008 model gets 35 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway, same as the 2007 model. One feature you might not know about is that the Altima Hybrid has a "specific electrically powered air conditioning system that continues to provide cooling when the gasoline engine is stopped," sez Nissan.

The 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid is currently available at Nissan retailers in the eight states that use California's emissions regulations: California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

[Source: Nissan North America]