Our neighbors to the west were recently featured in a short documentary by filmmaker Peter Byck, and you won't believe why.
Hybrids have been up-and-coming for a long time, since Toyota introduced the Prius to North America about 16 years ago. One of the final hurdles remaining for the hybrid is the perception that they are underpowered.
That's what Al Harris, Arkadelphia Chief of Police, believed.
He admits he knew almost nothing about hybrids before City Manager Jimmy Bolt pushed him to replace 10 aging Crown Victoria cruisers with the Toyota Camry Hybrid. Sure, it would save a ton of money in fuel cost and repairs, but could a Camry catch a bad guy?
Ironically, Toyota released a series of Super Bowl commercials earlier this year, which depicted a Toyota Prius police car catching bad guys in a car chase.
In Arkadelphia, that commercial has become reality.
According to the officers there, though many of them doubted the Camry Hybrid at first, the cars have proven to handle better at high speeds and around curves than the gas-guzzling V8s they replaced. The improved fuel economy has allowed them to increase patrol miles, which Harris cites as a major factor in crime prevention.
Come test drive an efficient new Toyota in Pine Bluff, AR at Trotter Toyota.
