NEW YORK — With a plan already under way to make all of New York City's yellow cabs green by 2012, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed new fuel-efficient rules on Wednesday for the thousands of sleek black cars that are offered for hire by car services.

Under the proposal, the 10,000 or so black cars operating citywide would be required to meet a fuel efficiency standard of 25 miles per gallon in 2009 and 30 miles per gallon in 2010. Black cars now average 12 to 15 miles per gallon.

Black cars mostly serve the business world, with the most frequent passengers coming from Wall Street firms, lawyers and other corporate clients. The vehicles are usually summoned to a specific location, and are not hailed on the street, which is one of the reasons Bloomberg said it is important that they go green.

"While yellow cabs are constantly on the move, black cabs actually spend a decent amount of time just sitting and waiting for their client to come out" with their engines idling, Bloomberg said at a news conference.

Hybrid vehicles run on a combination of gasoline and electricity, emitting less exhaust and achieving higher gas mileage per gallon.

In the fleet of 13,000 yellow cabs rolling on city streets, there are now about 825 hybrids. Under Bloomberg's hybrid yellow cab plan announced last year, that number will increase to 1,000 by October and will grow each year until 2012, when every yellow cab will be a hybrid.

By setting the fuel efficiency rule for town cars, which will go for a vote before the Taxi and Limousine Commission in April, the Bloomberg administration estimates drivers will save thousands of dollars per year in gasoline expenses.

Despite the savings over time, drivers or companies would still be required to put up a large chunk of money all at once to purchase new hybrid vehicles that meet the fuel standards.

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