Discount Car & Truck Rentals Leader in Offering Environmentally-Friendly Automobiles

Hybrid Vehicles to be added to 2005 fleet

TORONTO, July 14 /CNW/ - Canadian-owned and operated Discount Car & Truck Rentals announced today that it will take a leadership role in adding hybrid electric vehicles to its fleet of rental cars and trucks starting in the 2005 model year.

Targeted primarily at the personal use and leisure renter, the hybrid vehicles will provide good fuel economy as well as lower emissions, and they are expected to be very popular with customers.

"Discount Car & Truck Rentals wants to set a new standard for customer rental options and we believe customers will appreciate having this choice," said Herb Singer, company President and Founder. "Initially, our hybrid fleet will consist of 2005 model Toyota Prius cars, but we are looking to add other hybrid cars, SUVs and trucks as soon as they become available."

Discount's hybrid vehicle program will begin in the Greater Toronto Area, with expansion to other major markets across Canada as product supply permits. According to www.canadiandriver.com, hybrid vehicles will enable fuel economy improvements of over 50 per cent and reduce emissions to negligible levels.

"Hybrid vehicles will save our customers money given their excellent fuel economy while providing the environmental advantages of low CO(2) emissions and cleaner exhaust gas," says Singer.

HEVs combine a battery-powered engine with a conventional internal combustion engine. This combination gives motorists the driving range and rapid refueling of a conventional vehicle, together with some of the environmental and energy conservation benefits of a purely electric vehicle.

HEVs can also use regenerative braking to convert positive energy created from forward-motion into energy that can be stored in the battery.

The Toyota Prius is rated as a Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV) and an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle according to stringent California Air Resources Board standards.

The Prius is powered by Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive, a third generation gasoline-electric hybrid system that provides best-in-market vehicle emissions performance and a combined city/highway fuel economy rating of 4.1 litres per 100 km (or 69 mpg). This full hybrid system allows the vehicle to automatically operate either in gasoline or electric modes, or a combined gas and electric mode, delivering optimum power and efficiency as determined by driving conditions.

About Discount Car & Truck Rentals: Discount Car & Truck Rentals is a privately owned company that was established in 1980 in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) by Herb and Rhoda Singer. Pioneers of the "Free Customer Pickup and Return" service in Canada, the company continues to be an industry leader with over 300 locations coast to coast in Canada.