A big reason why Best Buy's Geek Squad agents gained fame was because of their instantly recognizable fleet of black and white Volkswagen Beetles. The electronics superstore has announced that those famous cars would be going green instead, as they will begin to roll out a fleet of 1,000 Toyota Prius C hybrids to replace their VW counterparts.
The Prius C gets about 53 mpg highway and 43 city, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to this improved fuel economy, Best Buy also expects to meet their company goal of cutting carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2020. Geek Squad agents make five million house calls annually and drive around 12.6 million miles to get to those calls.That equates to around 13,000 trips per day So making the move to integrate hybrids into their fleet must have been an easy choice.
Since Best Buy bought Geek Squad (once a stand-alone operation) in 2002 and rolled it out across the U.S. in 2004, their fleet has grown to include some 3,900 vehicles. This includes around 1,170 "Geekmobiles," as well as 2,700 Chevy and Ford vans. The new Prius C Geekmobiles will replace almost 1,065 of those black and white Beetles.
NAFA Fleet Management Association
http://www.nafa.org/