Katie May
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, May 22 2008

A local taxi driver has found a way to help keep city air cleaner – and pay much less for gas at the same time. Kaad Mukhtaar, who's worked for City Cabs on and off since 2004, bought a brand new 2008 Toyota Prius in January. The car is half electric and half fuelled by gasoline, so the 29-year-old realizes substantial savings at the gas pumps.

Kaad Mukhtaar is the first driver with City Cabs to purchase a hybrid car.

He said he spends about $48 for a full tank of gas that lasts roughly 800 kilometres. His old car, a General Motors model, cost about $60 to fill up for only 300 kilometres worth of driving.

"Driving a taxi, you spend a lot of money," he said, adding that a hybrid car produces less emissions and would fit in with the city's cleanup efforts. "It's good for your pocket and good for the environment."

Mukhtaar said some of his cab driver co-workers are now considering switching to hybrid too.

"A lot of guys are thinking about it," he said. "Before, they thought through the winter it's not going to make it," he said.

However, now they've seen his car survive the latter stages of winter – he made sure to plug it in to preserve the battery during bitterly cold nights – more cab drivers are looking at a similar move, he said.

Within the next couple of weeks, the City of Yellowknife hopes to finalize a deal to buy a Prius for the fire hall as part of its community energy plan. The plan's purpose is to lower city emission rates, but energy co-ordinator Mark Henry said saving taxpayer money wouldn't hurt either.

"We keep our vehicles for eight years, so we'd save about $12,000 in energy use in that time," said Henry.

A Prius would produce 77 per cent less emissions than the fire hall's Ford F-150, currently used for fire inspections, according to Henry. The city will put the potential sale to tender so dealerships can bid on it. Henry said if the Prius works well with the fire hall, the city will consider purchasing hybrids for other local departments.

Mukhaatar said his car was worth the $35,000 price tag, especially since he received a $4,000 government rebate.

"It's very quiet," he said. "It's a smooth ride."

He ordered his hybrid at the local dealership, but said the vehicles aren't very easy to come by. One of his fellow cab drivers went to see about buying one recently and was met with a two-month waiting list.

Barry Bessette, one of the owners of the city's Autotec Limited, said the Toyota dealership sells three hybrid models and they're all becoming more popular.

"We're trying to make people more aware with the impending $2 for a litre of gas," he said.

Bessette said they've sold about six Prius cars and a total of 12 hybrids this year. But a lot of potential buyers have the misconception that hybrid cars don't work in the North.

"They work optimally this time of year as opposed to 35 below, but they still work," he said.

Toyota reported last week it's sold slightly more than a million Prius models worldwide since the company unveiled the hybrid 10 years ago.