Yeah, right.
Unfortunately, it seems we must part with our CNG-powered Opel Combo, as there are a few specks of corrosion on the CNG tanks and that's enough for not letting it pass the motor vehicle test, even though it's in good shape generally (10 years old). I was hoping to drive it for another two years and then buy a second-hand plug-in Prius.
These are still too expensive now, but I expect them to become a lot cheaper two years from now - in the Netherlands that is, and import it to Austria - as all the government tax breaks there are ending after January 1st, which means probably a lot of lease drivers will look for something new.
That 10-15 mile all-electric range on the plug-in Prius would be perfect for 80-90% of our driving, and we could charge it with our solar panels or for free in the nearest town. We also want to buy some good bikes, so we can drive that Prius for 10-15-20 years (owners say it's a fantastic car, little maintenance, etc).
Even better would be to ditch the car and go for the bikes, and then just rent a car when we really need it (that would be much cheaper too) but we can't handle that quite yet as we still have so much work in and around the house, often needing materials, etc.
Timing sucks, and what sucks even more is that almost all Opel Combos (and CNG Zafiras) have this problem after 10 years, even though the CNG tanks are said to have a 20 year life expectancy. It's planned obsolescence, as the corrosion is caused by the suspension lashes (some sand gets in, rubs off the paint, et voilà, corrosion). Opel knows this 100%.
Volkswagen is even worse, with cars exploding while filling up because the CNG bottles' integrity is compromised by the corrosion. I think the CNG days are over, anyhow, but again, I would have preferred to drive our Combo for another two years.
All-electric is out of the question (too expensive, too much software
), converting the Combo to electric (my favourite idea) is too expensive and too much of a hassle, fixing the Combo by replacing the gas bottles is too expensive (relatively speaking), so it looks like we're going to have to buy a shitty car and some good bikes, and use the latter as much as we can.
Stupid addiction...
