By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

West Lake Hills is the first city in Texas to use a hybrid vehicle for routine police patrolling. 

The city unveiled the hybrid SUV, a Toyota Highlander, on March. 11, the day the vehicle was officially deployed for regular patrol full time.

Although other law enforcement agencies in Texas use hybrid vehicles for 

administrative purposes, the hybrid SUV is the first police vehicle to be used on daily traffic patrols, according to a West Lake Hills press release. 

The Highlander costs about $35,000. A new Ford Crown Victoria, the usual replacement car for the West Lake Hills Police Department flee, costs about $25,000. 

When the City Council originally decided to purchase the SUV, the vehicle was expected to save the city about $2,500 per year, thus paying for its increased cost within five years. 

Now that fuel costs have decreased, however, city officials do not expect significant savings on fuel, Mayor Dave Claunch said. 

“We’re probably not going to make up the additional cost in gas savings,” he said. 

The vehicle does show a commitment from the city to the environment by reducing emissions, he said. 

“Our community is committed to protecting the environment,” Claunch said. “This hybrid patrol vehicle will use less gas and emit far less carbon dioxide than a conventional police car. We are proud to lead by example, and we hope this encourages people to invest in eco-friendly technologies themselves.”

Regular police cars get between 10 and 12 miles per miles per gallon. The Highlander gets about 20, Claunch said. 

Performance was also considered as the Council decided which hybrid to purchase. 

“When we test drove the hybrid Highlander, any performance concerns were immediately allayed,” Claunch said. “It takes off like a rocket.” 

This Highlander will be an experiment to decide whether the city continues to buy more hybrid vehicles to replace patrol cars that are nearing their usual patrol life span of five years. 

“This one is kind of a pilot program,” Claunch said.