LAHORE: Electric-gasoline hybrid vehicles are all the rage in developed countries these days and with good reason: they easily provide two to three times better fuel economy than conventional gasoline powered cars, which also results in less pollution.
Lately, we have also started seeing hybrid vehicles. This is a good trend and shows that the concept has started gaining traction with the public. However, most of these vehicles are used ones and are at least a couple of years old, which raises questions about the efficiency and remaining life of their battery systems. The government should encourage the purchase of brand new hybrid vehicles by allowing duty-free imports and elimination of all taxes on purchase and registration. It should also offer tax rebates to local auto manufacturers and assemblers so that they can start producing hybrid vehicles locally.
The move towards hybrid vehicles can help in significantly reducing the country’s fuel consumption, not to mention the positive impact it can have on the environment.
Adeel Ahmed
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2012.
