New hybrid Crown limos announced

Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, October 23rd, 2007 - 25 comments
Categories: climate change - Tags:

In an effort to play an even larger part in the fight against global warming the New Zealand government today announced the purchase of 20 specially produced Toyota Prius Hybrid limousines.

These fuel efficient, environmentally friendlier vehicles will gradually replace the current crop of Ministerial vehicles.

The car will seat up to ten people and will have plenty of room to accommodate even the largest of our representatives.

Despite its increased size and weight, the hybrid still manages a remarkable fuel efficiency of around 4.7L per 100km.

post-24095-1189716833.jpg

Here’s the link.

25 comments on “New hybrid Crown limos announced ”

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  1. the sprout 1
    23 October 2007 at 11:12 am

    well that is a great initiative. for key it would be a real come-down though, having to drive in one of those.

  2. Daveo 2
    23 October 2007 at 11:15 am

    Why does the Crown have limos?

  3. Insolent Prick 3
    23 October 2007 at 11:44 am

    This looks like bullshit. Where’s the link to the government announcement, all your base? The car you linked to was a one-off build.

    There’s no way the government would buy twenty stretch priuses. A 1.5 litre engine can’t transport the PM at 170kph.

  4. all_your_base 4
    23 October 2007 at 11:59 am

    And here I was thinking that a long weekend would have cheered you up IP. Where’s that famous sense of humour? 🙂

  5. Icky Stinky 5
    23 October 2007 at 1:17 pm

    Daveo – I guess it’s a legit question to ask why ministerial services lays on limosines for ministers. The answer is convenience, security and professionalism. Ministerial diaries are jammed packed and to get from appointment to appointment ministers need a reliable form of transport. Ministers also read (and leave) papers in the cars and make secure phone calls from the cars. It is therefore very important that minister have complete confidence in the driver’s discretion.
    Finally, VIP drivers are trained in offensive driving which is good from a security perspective.

  6. Sam Dixon 6
    23 October 2007 at 1:37 pm

    4.7l/100km – that’s impressive for a vehicle that has other design priorites along with fuel effiency – good choice (and good on the Greeens for making an issue of it in the first place).

  7. Sam Dixon 7
    23 October 2007 at 1:38 pm

    Daveo – the Crown has a small fleet of limos and has done forever.

    They are used to transport ministers, the leader of the Opposition (I believe, remember Key taking little Aroha up to Waitangi in a chauffer-driven limo? I don’t think it was his private one, may of been), foreign guests of state, and sometimes other VIPs.

    Why are Ministers chaffeur-driven when on offical business? So they can work while travelling, and drivers are trained for driving in emergency situations.

    Why limos? So that the Minister and advisors, or parties of VIPs can be transported comforatably, enabling them to work and not be tired from travelling when they arrive at their destinations.

    With all the travelling senior politicans msut undertake its a good use of taxpayers’ money to ensure that they can work while travelling and aren’t so strung out that they can’t perform at their peak when they arrive.

  8. Santa Claws 8
    23 October 2007 at 1:58 pm

    Baseman – obviously you are too funny for your acolytes!

  9. Santa Claws 9
    23 October 2007 at 2:25 pm

    Actually, I think that Aunty Helen may need to order a few of these if the terrorists get bail

    http://www.securityprousa.com/armepuleb6bu.html

  10. r0b 10
    23 October 2007 at 2:59 pm

    “Baseman – obviously you are too funny for your acolytes!”

    Acolytes belong to the cult of “personality” that is the National Party blog. The Standard has participants. Because of the multi-author format, there is no one dominant voice here. It’s rather refreshing!

    And as for being taken in by the post, I was too on a first quick read, because this is the sort of thing that I feel the Government should be doing.

    And armoured limos? – may it never reach that point in NZ…

  11. Sam Dixon 11
    23 October 2007 at 3:51 pm

    Oh boo

  12. all_your_base 12
    23 October 2007 at 4:13 pm

    Was dying to write “Parker pimps the PM’s Prius”.

  13. r0b 13
    23 October 2007 at 4:17 pm

    “Parker pimps the PM’s Prius”

    Hah! You so shoulda…

  14. Santa Clawz 14
    23 October 2007 at 4:21 pm

    Actually, I do believe I read a story over the weekend in that great organ of state, the Sunday News, (via special delivery to the Nth Pole) that the ‘clean’ vehicles up for evaluation didn’t ‘make the grade’ for various reasons, including inelegant exists for skirt-wearing back-seat passengers (now theres are horrible thought). Maybe the next lot will be Holden Statesman’s converted to wind power?

    Other options for consideration:
    When the girls are out… http://www.pinkhummerlimo.co.uk/
    For squiring the farmers… http://www.offroaders.com/readers/images1/TexasTruck.jpg

  15. r0b 15
    23 October 2007 at 8:21 pm

    “via special delivery to the Nth Pole”

    If you live at the Pole, Mr Clawz, you should have a particular interest in reducing the impact of climate change. When the last of the ice melts you and the elves are going to be all at sea.

  16. Trent 16
    23 October 2007 at 9:16 pm

    Only a car like that could make Helen look attractive by comparision.

  17. Tane 17
    23 October 2007 at 10:36 pm

    Nice contribution Trent. You’re onto a winner with that one.

  18. insider 18
    24 October 2007 at 9:08 am

    Whenever I see the limos they are usually stacked up at Wgtn airport taking one minister each, and they are usually reading the paper or staring mindlessly out of the window.

    Car pooling by ministers would be a good first efficiency step

  19. Phil 19
    24 October 2007 at 9:37 am

    The Prius is one of the worlds greatest environmental jokes. The additional damage done to the environment during its construction far outweighs the savings in fuel consumption.

    Then there’s the additional issue of what to do with all that extra harmful gunk left over from the massive battery when you scrap the car at the end of it’s life… but nobody likes to talk about that around here.

  20. r0b 20
    24 October 2007 at 10:56 am

    “but nobody likes to talk about that around here.”

    Why would we not want to talk about that? I for one am not married to the Prius. If there are more environmentally friendly options out there – what are they? Tell us about it…

  21. Phil 21
    24 October 2007 at 12:51 pm

    I’ve found in the past that making disparaging remarks about the Prius is generally met with a chorus of disdain from those of a ‘green’ persuasion. And lets face it, thestandard.org does have quite a few of those…

    Anyway, getting back on track; The Volkswagen Polo is the first one that comes to mind as a more fuel efficient car (and shock horror – it’s a diesel!).

    I don’t have the figures on hand, but I am led to believe that some of the small French and Italian cars (Fiats, Renaults etc) as well as a lot of Asian makes (Diahatsu, Hyundai etc) all produce small cars with the same, or similar to the point of statistical discrepancy, fuel consumption as the over-hyped Prius

  22. r0b 22
    24 October 2007 at 1:32 pm

    Phil – “enerally met with a chorus of disdain”

    Well I for one would rather be driven by facts than by hype – and I suspect that many others here feel the same. So thanks for those initial pointers…

  23. Santa Claws 23
    24 October 2007 at 1:51 pm

    This is probably the lowest emissions possibility which is conveniently available in a biofuelled model

    http://tinyurl.com/yo3nyt

    Of course air bags are fitted in case of the worst….

    http://tinyurl.com/2zohyj

  24. all_your_base 24
    24 October 2007 at 2:37 pm

    Fire away Phil. From the little Googling I’ve done you’re right. “Whole of life” carbon footprint hurts the Prius.

    “Although the petrol-electric Prius appeared in twelfth position, it was held back by its whole-life environmental impact, researchers said. The message here is – small and lightweight is the best way to reduce environmental impact.”

    (http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/news.php?sid=1081&page=1)

    That said, I guess the fact that Toyota has managed to bring the Prius to market will help to refine the technology. My understanding is also that because NZ is in the privileged position of generating the vast majority of its power renewably, electric cars make a lot of environmental sense for us – if not immediately, in the not-too-distant future.

  25. r0b 25
    25 October 2007 at 10:54 pm

    Claws – “This is probably the lowest emissions possibility which is conveniently available in a biofuelled model”

    For a minute there I thought you were attempting to make a constructive contribution. My mistake. Sigh.

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