Hybrid hopes power council vehicle fleet

By Alison Noonan
ELECTRIC cars may be Casey Council’s answer to combating rising fuel prices.
The council is trialing two Honda hybrid cars in a bid to cut petrol costs, and the move seems to be working.
The hybrid system works by storing energy recovered during braking and deceleration in the battery, while the electric motor also assists the petrol engine during acceleration.
As the car accelerates, the stored energy is directed to the electric motor to supplement the engine’s performance.
Casey director infrastructure services Ray Butler described the hybrid model as the next generation of lowenergy vehicles, saying the cars were proving successful cost savers.
“We have been testing the cars for a year,” he said.
“We are trying to work out our expenses but on paper it all proves very good.
“We think hybrid cars are a great idea but we are not sure of their resale value because they are so brand new.”
Mr Butler said of the 130 vehicles in council’s fleet, 22 ran on gas and 46 were utilities.
He said the council was always mindful of size when purchasing cars, but claimed the nature of council work required many utilities to be part of its fleet.
“Fuel expenses are only a small percentage of the overall running costs of a vehicle,” Mr Butler said.
“It is all relative to how many kilometres you do per week.”
Mr Butler said he did not have a figure for the council’s fuel expenditure, but said the council had not increased its budget to accommodate rising petrol prices. “We estimated fuel costs in last year’s council budget and made provisions for it when we heard rumours that prices would increase,” he said.