Hybrid cars ‘can cost €10k more to run’

MOTORISTS who switch to electric or hybrid cars to cut down on CO2 emissions could be paying up to €10,000 extra in costs over the lifetime of the vehicle compared to conventional petrol models.

A new series of reports on environmentally friendly vehicles by the national energy agency, Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), have revealed that there are few immediate economic benefits for motorists who switch to environmentally friendly vehicles, apart from the owners of petrol vans.

People driving cars, diesel vans, minibuses and buses would all pay higher total costs by changing to electric or hybrid models, according to the SEI reports.

However, they also point out that such vehicles have many advantages including their beneficial effect on the environment as well as being quieter and cheaper to run, especially for urban drivers.

Although the actual running costs of environmentally-friendly cars are considerably less than existing petrol or diesel vehicles, the overall cost of owning and operating such cars will increase due to the fact that they are considerably more expensive to buy at present.

The SEI points out that hybrid cars have to be used more intensively and kept for longer in order for motorists to save money.

It is estimated that drivers who travel the average distance of 17,000 kms (10,500 miles) per annum would have to own a petrol hybrid car for 21 years to recover the additional costs of buying the car and a diesel hybrid for more than 25 years.

For example, a motorist driving 17,000 kms per year would spend an extra €8,854 over 10 years by switching from a petrol car to a battery electric car. But the same motorist would only spend an extra €896 over the same period by changing his existing car to a petrol hybrid electric model.

However, a driver of a petrol van who averages 40,200 kms (25,000 miles) per annum would save €6,195 over 5 years by switching to a diesel hybrid electric model.

On a more positive note, the cost of such vehicles is expected to decrease over the coming years due to economies of scale and improved technology.

The SEI reports prepared by UK consultancy firm, AEA Energy & Environment, said the Government will have a major role to play in encouraging motorists to switch to greener vehicles.

They acknowledge that battery electric vehicles and some plug-in, hybrid models also have a more limited range than conventional cars, while they also tend to be smaller in size with lower top speeds.

They suggest that a range of tax breaks, subsidies and other incentives will be necessary to persuade motorists to change to environmentally-friendly models.

SEI chairman, Brendan Halligan said the report highlighted how important it was to understand how the use of environmentally- friendly vehicles could help Ireland to meet its targets on CO2 reduction. He pointed out that transport currently accounts for 35% of Ireland’s energy-related emissions, more than any other sector including industry and private households.

Transport emissions alone grew by 7.1% in 2006.

The reports recommend that public transport fleets in cities such as buses and taxis should be considered as pilot projects for conversion to environmentally-friendly vehicles.

The SEI has also developed a cost calculator which enables motorists to assess cost benefits of changing to an electric or hybrid model. lThe calculator can be accessed on the SEI website at www.sei.ie.