By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
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THE federal government is rebuffing calls from the RACV to offer rebates on electric and hybrid vehicles.
Last week, RACV environmental programs manager Simon Mikedis said the state and federal governments should take the sting out of “prohibitively” priced electric vehicles.
All-electric vehicles start at $48,800 for the Mitsubishi MIEV. It will be joined by the $51,500 Nissan Leaf next month.
However, Toyota hybrid cars the Camry and the Prius have recently dropped into more price-friendly territory.
Mr Mikedis said the government should follow the lead of the US, which offered a $6000 rebate on electric vehicles.
In Victoria, VicRoads offers a $100 discount on registrations for hybrid vehicles.
Nissan spokesman Jeff Fisher said the car maker had tried to lobby the federal government for several years for electric vehicle rebates. “They haven’t taken up consumer subsidies unlike the rest of the Western world.”
He said the manufacturer subsidies to Toyota to produce the Camry hybrid were “not a particularly good use of taxpayers’ money”.
Last year, 5204 Camry Hybrids were sold – less than half the 10,000 annual target set by the company.
Mr Fisher said he hoped the Leaf would sell “in the hundreds” in the first year. “We know it won’t be a volume seller or the cheapest car on the market. We expect sales from early adopters and fleet buyers.”
He predicted initial take-up of electric cars would be slow, estimating about 60 on Australian roads at present, but by 2050 it would be the predominant vehicle.
Without a rumble, Leaf breezes in
HITTING the start button on an electric car is a disconcerting experience: there are no detectable vibrations or noise as such, so it’s hard to believe the car is actually ticking over.
Last week, the Weekly did a number of double-takes as it drove a Nissan Leaf – an all-electric car voted the 2011 World Car of the Year – around the car maker’s Dandenong offices.
Each time the car was stopped at an intersection it idled without even a purr. Such is the cocoon of silence, the car emits mechanical noises and chimes so pedestrians can hear it.
The 10,000-kilometre service costs $88, charging up the battery ‘fuel tank’ costs $3.
The Leaf’s green credentials are impressive: a solar panel on the spoiler to trickle-charge the car’s 12-volt battery, bumpers recycled out of crash-car bumpers and seat fabric made of recycled PET bottles.
Nissan claims a range of up to 170 kilometres for the car in economy mode. If energy gets low, the car’s sat nav searches for the nearest recharging station and it locks into power-saving mode switching off the air-con and radio.
The roomy five-seater is no motorised golf cart. It’s got guts, zipping off from the lights – when not in economy mode. It’s just the sound of silence that you’ve got to get used to.
– By Cameron Lucadou-Wells
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