An electric-powered minibus has failed to gain approval because it weighs too much. A company which submitted a proposal to the Government in July outlining a plan to import the vehicles has been told it cannot go ahead. The Transport Department will not register the seven-tonne vehicles because the limit for public light buses is four tonnes. 'If we are to use that vehicle, the requirement has to be amended,' said a spokeswoman for the company, Vicmax Ltd. The minibus has 24 seats, whereas those in Hong Kong have 16. Most of the excess weight is due to the huge battery needed to power the vehicle. The company wants the Transport Department to relax the regulations. A Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau spokeswoman said it was considering Vicmax's proposal, while a Transport Department spokeswoman refused to comment. The Government is considering extending the use of LPG from taxis to minibuses. A consultation is being carried out but no progress has been made. Professor Ho Siu-lou, from the Polytechnic University's mechanical and electrical engineering department, said electric buses could be a long-term solution to air pollution because LPG vehicles still emitted smoke. But the costs of running such buses were high. The president of the Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories Maxicab and Light Bus Association, Leung Hung, said his members would choose whatever vehicle was most cost-efficient in fighting air pollution.
