Slash Your Petrol Costs!

The most widely known hybrid car is the Toyota Prius. Basically a hybrids purpose is to reduce the amount of pollution and maximise fuel efficiency, which adds up to a double bonus! To do this it uses a gasoline/electric hybrid powertrain, incorporating large batteries that are charged by the gas (petrol) engine directly or by regenerative battery.

It may seem a bold move to buy a hybrid, but it is a smart one considering how much money you could save on running the vehicle; not to mention how impressed your friends, colleagues and family will be about your contribution to cleaning up the air. New models range from $45,000 to $60,000 and second hand (‘03-‘07) can be between $24,000 - $36,000.

 

Although they are super compact, these babies aren’t called Smart Car for no good reason! They really are the smart option! They are extremely fuel efficient cars that are very environmentally friendly and fantastic to park in the city. Using around 5 litres per 100km, at the current price of $2/litre, $10 would go a very long way. And it is also pretty grunty, easily reaching 120km/hour (which is naughty though). For a second hand one on TradeMe you can get a relatively new model that has done around 25,000km for $14,000, which is cheap for a car with such low k’s.    

 

You can’t really get much cheaper (engine powered) transport than a scooter when it takes a little more than $7 to fill up the tank (which can take you around 200km depending on the scooter). Although registration can be a little bit higher for scooters (because they have a higher ACC levy), scooters with a 50cc engine don’t have to get a WOF (and you also don’t have to get a motorbike licence to ride 50cc or less). They are relatively cheap to buy as well ranging between $1,200 and $5,000. You would almost save that much a year on petrol if you traded UP to this extremely cheap to run transportation!

 

This is a hard one I know, but consider the average that almost two-thirds of car trips in New Zealand are under 6km! Doesn’t it also feel strange that you could do this for practically free whenever we want, except many of us pay $20 a week to a gym just to go and jump on a bike. Adopting a bike could save you the running costs of a car, and give you an all over body workout that would require 10 different machines at the gym.

Consider the gridlock traffic you get stuck in everyday and I bet most days you have the thought “gosh I could WALK faster than this” – well imagine how much faster you could get there on a bike!

 

Green cabs are in almost all the main centres of New Zealand and we congratulate them on making such a positive statement and contribution to cleaning up the air. Now lets support them by making sure we always pick them first when calling or looking for a taxi. The fact that they are doing their bit for the environment isn’t the only feel good factor that you will get from riding in one either, you’ll save more in your pocket!

Green Cabs have one of the cheapest fares around. So put this number in your mobile and make sure they are always your choice if you need a ride - 0508 447 336!

 

Like the idea of using public transport but need a car every so often to run errands? No problem. City Hop is a great new alternative to always bringing your car into the city and it is available in Auckland and soon Wellington and Christchurch. Basically you just pay a small fee ($75 to join and then $13.50/hour plus a certain charge of how far you go) to take the car out for the day, or just an hour if that’s all you need. 

These guys have thought about the big picture too, the cars you ‘rent’ are hybrids. It is all pretty convenient really and there aren’t too many excuses you can use to ‘poo-hoo’ the idea so consider it as your alternative transport today.