You may pick up a Coca-Cola to keep yourself refreshed, but the company’s operators have a different approach to tackling the thirst of their fleet of cars and SUVs.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola has gone green - turning to hybrid cars to solve the problem of its fleets guzzling too much ‘gas’. The company has already transitioned 325 of the 800 cars and SUVs used by its sales staff to hybrid vehicles and expects to move a further 225 over to the green side before the end of the year.

It’s not just the company itself which has seen the green light - its affiliate companies are also making an environmental push. Charlotte-based Coca-Cola Consolidated, Coke’s second largest US bottler, now has 400 hybrid cars in its fleet of around 800 vehicles. Coca-Cola Enterprises, the largest bottler has around 30 hybrid cars and 140 diesel-electric hybrid delivery trucks.

The move comes after a massive leap in petrol prices in the USA. When Coca-Cola originally proposed the hybrid car switchover, petrol was around $2.70 a gallon in the USA - now it costs around $3.70 a gallon.

The move also represents a drive towards environmental projects by the company.

Bruce Karas, director of sustainability, environment and safety for Coca-Cola in North America, said: “If you look at the price of fuel now, it’s going up. The whole picture is continually getting better in terms of the financial benefits of going to a hybrid.”

Indeed Coke estimates that it is saving around $1,100 a year per vehicle compared to the non-hybrid cars. The hybrid SUVs meanwhile save approximately $800 a year per vehicle. They also pick up their largest savings during city driving, where the stop and go electric motor assists acceleration.