What car does Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi a.k.a. His Serene Highness Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco drive? He drives a Prius.
Today, he switched it for a plug-in hybrid Prius. The minute the first plug-ion hybrid was available in Europe, Toyota shipped it to Monaco as a two month loaner. The intent: Convince the ruler of the 35,800 car principality at France’s Cote d’ Azur to plug-in permanently.
If he buys the car, His Serene Highness can collect a 5,500 EUR subsidy from his own government. Would he drive Nissan’s Leaf, Prince Albert could award himself 9,000 EUR.
Whereas the Prius and its compact sibling the Prius c (a.k.a. Aqua in Japan) enjoys record sales, the plug-in hybrid version has been a slow mover. It costs a princely sum more.
If I was a head-of-state, you wouldn’t see me in anything less than a plug-in S-class if I had to give you the illusion of “being green”.
Call me back when EV can make 400 pounds of torque and 425 HP. Until then I’ll stick with supercharged ICE.
Fortunately, you’re not a head of state.
Considering how corrupt our government is, I have a pretty good chance of getting in.
If you think your government is corrupt, you dont get out much.
Try going a bit further than work , the mall, etc.
Perhaps HSH Prince Albert realises all his countrys gas comes from say Libya and its time to be less dependent on countries that are a lot less stable… than say Wisconsin
Here ya go: It comes up a hair shy on HP, but crushes it on torque. On sale later this year:
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/06/29/audi-r8-e-tron-laps-ring-in-record-setting-8-09-celebrates-sil/
Tesla Model S Performance:
416 hp (310 kW), 443 ft-lb (600 Nm)
Who is he trying to impress? His wealthy residents don’t give a s**t.
Maybe he is a greenhouse believer, unlike all the politicians that jet around the world to talk about how the middle class needs to be relocated to sustainable concentration ghettos.
The problem with Monaco is that you wont impress its residents with an S class either. It is a common man car there and more exotic cars aren’t practical.
Is it just me, or does the Prince’s car have the nicest paint job of any modern car that I’ve seen? It looks like show car paint, while every new car on every dealer’s lot screams ‘I was painted with paint whose highest purpose was to protect the environment while being applied.’
I think it’s just had a good detailing and was shot with a polarized filter. You’d be amazed how good you can make especially silver look with a couple hours work and the right lens filter.
Driving a plug-in Prius in Monaco is pretty easy — no two places are more than two kilometers apart. That does not work so well in a real capital city.
“does not work so well” meaning you don’t achieve a high utility factor with the electric drive? Perhaps.
These Royals are so frugal, just like their subjects.
Lots of criticism here, but I think that for the Prince of a tiny millionaire state, this is a very pretty decent PR move.
I suspect it can’t climb most of the hills in Monaco without kicking on it’s ICE, so I’m not sure what the point of the trading the regular Prius for the PIP is anyways. If you wanna help the air quality in Monaco, which sucks BTW, do it right and get an Ampera.
Hey Bertel is knocking them out of the park today. Where is everybody else? Is there anybody else? Just wonderin..
The new Tesla S may be a good fit for him, if he can get one.. those things will be sold out for years.
Not surprising to see a head of state engaging in what amounts to another empty gesture. If you can’t whitewash your B.S., try greenwashing it.