SCMP – Updated on Jan 03, 2009
I read a story on the Vectrix electric motorcycle in the Motoring column (“Brave new whirr”, May 24).
I note that the Hong Kong police used a number of these motorcycles to full effect during the Beijing Olympic torch relay (“Bike show gets a tour de force”, November 1).
My friends in the force have told me that all officers who used it rave about it in every way.
Your article mentioned the dealership and sole importer. I contacted them and they said they had them in stock but that the Transport Department had not licensed them yet because they had not completed their trials on the vehicles.
Well, the police are clearly happy with them and are still using them in their attractive green livery. Is it that the commissioner for transport thinks the Hong Kong public is incapable of operating an electric vehicle responsibly and will run out of juice suddenly in the outside lane of an expressway? Surely not.
Why, then, can I not pay the HK$90,000 and buy one, thus reducing my monthly fuel bill from HK$4,000 to HK$300? Oh, yes, and clean up the air a bit, too.
Could the relevant department please respond and get into top gear to save our air?
Siu Kwok-chu, Tai Po