State needs to take charge

HELPDESK:All your motoring queries answered

From G OMalley:

Instead of getting us to drive electric cars, why doesn’t the Government lead by example. It should make all the councils buy such vehicles. Last week I was stuck behind a council van that was emptying bins on the street and there was black smoke pouring out of it all the time.

It’s a fair point and one that has been made by several commentators on these pages. The budget for tax incentives on electric cars at present is €20 million, however, which equates to just 4,000 cars. So I think even the Government realises it will be a while before we are all plugging in. That said, many semi-state firms, such as the ESB, are starting to use electric vehicles.

If we are serious about cutting the motoring part of our carbon footprint, then a mixture of electric and hybrid vehicles would make more sense for trundling around town at low speeds, spending a great deal of time at the side of the road or in traffic.

According to electric car advocates, the average car spends 92 per cent of its life sitting idle. So we are wasting a great opportunity if we don’t get these cars out on the road.

Ideally, there should be a car-sharing scheme as proposed by James Nix (August 11th) to get as many people as possible to experience what electric vehicles are like to drive.

Such schemes also offer an alternative to car ownership for urban dwellers.

They have been shown to work in other cities, so why not here? As you point out, if we are serious about lowering emissions, then we should focus on the vehicles that spend the most time on our city streets.

From LR:

I have used a Skoda Octavia for taxi work for the past two years. It has served me well but needs its gearbox replaced. So it’s time to change it. I’ve been offered a Hyundai Trajet, which seems practical, and a Mercedes E-Class. Both are 2003. What do you think?

I wouldn’t be tempted by either of those. The Hyundai Trajet has plenty of space but I would not be confident that it would be up to the sort of mileage you would be putting in. The Mercedes is a firm favourite with German taxi drivers but they get a serious discount to opt for the local brand. While there are plenty of pre-2000 E-Class models going strong, the particular generation – known within Mercedes circles as the W211 version – suffered multiple problems, particularly with its electronics.

These were mostly rectified in the 2006 face-lift and the new version promises to be rock solid, but I would be concerned that a 2003 version wouldn’t be up to the hard graft you intend.

I think the best advice I can give you is to look around the taxi rank. Those who depend on their cars being reliable so they can do their job, seem to give their vote to the Toyota Avensis. For extra interior space, two taxi drivers who haul me around regularly swear by their VW Caravelles.

Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish Times, Tara St, Dublin 2 or email motorshelp@irishtimes.com