Toyota Prius - Hybrid car makes airport taxi service

An airport taxi service - Checker Cars - which is the official taxi operator for London Stansted, Gatwick, Bristol, Cardiff & Southampton airports (as well as serving Heathrow) took delivery earlier in the year of 80 Toyota Prius cars.

It cited fuel costs and congestion charges as its main reasons for choosing the Prius, which can run solely on its electric motor up to speeds of around 30mph.

The green credentials of the hybrid also fit the companies environmental policy and aspirations.

A new 'plug in' version of the Prius was due to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

You can read more about the Prius spec and fuel economy on Honest John's motoring pages.

photo credit: autoviva

Electric car charging points in London to get Boris Boost

TreeHugger reported last week how London is all set to get over a 1,000 new electric car charging points by 2012.

Currently there are just 250 accessible to the public but this will increase to over 1,300.

In fact, there will be more charging points than petrol stations, and if that statistic leaves us petrol heads scratching our heads, then it's worth remembering that there are already over 17,000 hybrid vehicles being used in Greater London.

Electric car owners already escape the congestion charge and there is also the 'Plug-in Car Grant' incentive which puts £5,000 towards the cost of a new electric vehicle, making them a little less extortionate in price when compared with their still cheaper petrol / diesel engines versions.

It all reminded me of a recent conversation with a fellow driver over the fuel pumps... He had pulled up in his Aston Martin beside the LPG pump and was muttering that the pump was not working.

He disclosed that he worked in London and that LPG pumps were notorious for not working / being out of LPG. The problem is so severe that he had a list of around 6 'local' garages that had LPG pumps when in London so if one wasn't working, he could navigate to another.

Of course, once you've left the city, finding an LPG pump that was working got a little trickier. Especially if you were low on fuel.

photo credit: david villa

New London congestion charge rules will clobber 'green' prius

"is it me or does the Congestion Charge symbol

look like the Mysterons on Captain Scarlett?"

I was reading a piece about the dramatic fall of electric cars in the UK - down by 90% in 2009 compared with 2007 peak year.

That drop means just 55 'green cars' were registered during 2009.

For anyone thinking that 'green cars' were going to revolutionise road transport in the UK and provide an answer to the gas guzzling petrol heads, it's a bitter blow.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, buried away at the bottom of the piece was a line about the Mayor of London's confirmation of new congestion charge rules, that means vehicles like the 1st generation Toyota Prius will not be eligible for escaping the congestion charge.

That could affect 60,000 owners of hybrid cars. That's the real story here - not a bunch of manufacturers charging £28k for their latest electric car offering.

Now who's putting the boot in?

photo credit: surprise truck

Will your next car be a Hybrid design?

It was recently my very great pleasure to accept a lift in a friends Toyota Prius - probably the most recognised Hybrid (Petrol/Battery duel fuel driven car) on the roads in Britain.

It certainly set my mind thinking when it comes to replacing my ageing Mazda - large, comfy, and great fuel economy. He's not exactly a slow driver either and the car seemed as quick as mine. So I thought I'd look into Hybrid cars a little more - what are the running costs, what savings can I expect to make, how much are they to service and how long are the batteries meant to last?

I found the answers here in the column below, at What Green Car website.

Have you been thinking about a Hybrid car for your next family transport? Perhaps the following will?

"Most running costs are less for hybrids than conventional vehicles. In particular, the higher capital costs are offset by lower fuel costs due to the high fuel economy of the vehicles themselves. As is the case with carbon emissions, hybrids typically use 15%-30% less fuel per mile, depending on driving conditions and whether a mild or strong hybrid design is used.

For drivers in and around London (and other cities that may follow London's example), the other major running cost to consider is the Congestion Charge. As most hybrids are in PowerShift Band 4, they receive a 100% discount on the London Congestion Charge (although owners of hybrids need to register with Transport for London and pay an annual £10 fee). With a £8 payable daily charge, this could provide a potential annual saving of up to £2000. The PowerShift Register lists vehicles that qualify for London Congestion Charge discounts.

Due to their novelty and use of state-of-the-art batteries, servicing, maintenance and repair costs remain somewhat unknown. Although there is good reason to think that these costs will remain similar to those for conventional cars, servicing may require going to a specialist centre. In order to reduce consumer uncertainty, many hybrid car manufacturers provide high-mileage warranties that cover the additional hybrid components (typically for 8-10 years or 100,000 miles)."

*prices and figures quoted are directly from the article as it appears on What Green Car. Please click here to read their full guide to Hybrid-Cars.

photo credit: kinghuang