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Higher fuel costs and reducing price tags for hybrid cars are propelling more New Zealanders towards eco-friendly motoring.
With hybrids available for only around $1000 more than an equivalent standard car, the motorist quickly wins through fuel savings.
Hybrid vehicles - those with a petrol-powered engine and an electric motor - made their international debut in 2001. They are becoming more affordable as early models are sold on the secondhand market. The Clean Green Car Company, which imports secondhand Toyota Prius and Honda Insight hybrid vehicles, said its sales had been "steadily increasing" over the past two years, and had been particularly good since fuel prices began to rise dramatically last March.
"In March and April last year, people were flooding in the doors, and we sold out of cars, that's how popular they are getting," said company owner Stephen Pollard.
"One motivation for people who buy our cars is environmental consideration - but it's when fuel prices go up that all of a sudden they are really motivated to change."
Hybrids claim to cut more than 90 per cent of harmful emissions.
Solar-powered cars exist, but are not in common use. Cars powered by hydrogen have also been created, but are also not generally available.
Critics of the hybrid raise concerns about the large battery required and there are also concerns about the production of nickel for the battery.
However, savings in the hip pocket are often what persuades the motorist to buy a hybrid car.
When it comes to fuel, the Toyota Prius promises consumption of 4.4-5.2 litres per 100kms - considerably less than a similar petrol-powered model at 7.5 litres per 100kms.
Pollard said he had noted a wider variety of people wanting to test drive a clean, green car.
"A lot of immigrants from the UK or the US, where people are open to the idea of environmental awareness, have been buying these cars," he said. "In New Zealand there's this idea sometimes that anything eco-friendly means you get your toys taken away."
While secondhand hybrid models now almost match their equivalent petrol-powered cars on price, a new hybrid still costs around $5000 more than a similar petrol model.
Wine judge Bob Campbell bought a Toyota Prius after test-driving one and said he expected to save more than $7000 on fuel over 100,000 kilometres, compared with a Corolla.
Despite initial worries that the car had to be plugged in - which was a common misunderstanding among consumers, he said - Campbell fills the car so irregularly that he sometimes forgets it needs petrol.
Plus, he feels like he is doing something positive for the environment.
"I try to do my bit... you feel that the world is going to hell in a handcart, so you want to do your bit. They call us Pious Prius drivers, though," Campbell said. "People think they are little sluggish things driven by elderly people with a smug look on their face, but that's not the case... they go!"
