Any colour so long as it's green

The time may have come to put the conventional gas-guzzling car in the garage and replace it with a compact electric vehicle. With fuel prices in a state of flux and our environmental vandalism becoming ever more apparent, demand for electric vehicles, or EVs, is increasing.

Hong Kong can be proud in the knowledge that a locally developed EV is attempting to lead the charge for clean-fuel microcars overseas, starting in Europe. The conservatively branded MyCar is an electric microcar - defined as a small, fuel-efficient car, powered by petrol engines of up to 700cc or electricity - manufactured by Kwai Chung-based EuAuto Technology, with funding from the Hong Kong government.

The MyCar was unveiled in Britain in January with a sticker price of ?8,995 (HK$99,824). It comes in seven colours including pearl white and metallic green. The two-seater EV, made from fibreglass-reinforced plastic body panels, has a maximum speed of 64km/h and can travel 112km on a full charge. It takes six to eight hours to completely power the car.

The vehicle's top speed might seem slow but it should be enough for London motorists, who drive at an average speed of 16km/h - about 3km/h slower than horse-drawn carriages travelled in Edwardian times.

Precisely because a microcar cannot hurtle around at high speeds, the accident rate is half that of standard cars, says Chung, who estimates microcar insurance and running costs should be about 25 per cent lower the conventional vehicles. Better yet, the MyCar is exempt from road tax as well as central London's ?8 daily congestion charge. In addition, in designated areas of the city, the typical ?4-per-hour parking fee is being waived for EVs.