Hybrid cars to join U.S. government’s fleet under new program

The U.S. Department of the Interior will become the first federal agency to take advantage of a new program to update its fleet of vehicles with gas-sipping hybrids.

The initiative is part of a General Services Administration effort to replace aging government cars with as many as 10,000 hybrids.

The Interior Department will receive 300 gasoline and alternative-fuel vehicles--about a third of the vehicles the department is expecting to replace.

Under the Fleet Consolidation program, the GSA will fund the cost difference to purchase hybrid sedans.