New Brunswick's lieutenant-governor is the first Queen's representative in Canada to trade in a limousine for a supposedly greener mode of transportation.

Herménégilde Chiasson said he decided to go for a new black Toyota Highlander SUV hybrid to replace his old Cadillac, which was falling apart.

"I think it had 375,000 kilometres, and I think it’s very old for a car. It wasn’t a reliable car," he said Thursday.

Chiasson said while the four-wheel-drive SUV is quite economical on gas in the city, it doesn’t perform as well on the highway.

"Well, the old Cadillac — believe it or not — was much more economical in terms of fuel. This one drinks much more than the other one," he said of highway mileage.

Also, Chiasson said, an SUV doesn’t really provide the pomp and circumstance usually associated with his office like a Cadillac does.

"You know, it’s higher, so when you get in to the car, if you’re a man, there’s no problem. But my wife, she has a little bit of a problem getting in," he said.

Chiasson said he expects his new wheels will be a hot topic of conversation at the next annual meeting of the Queen’s representatives in Canada.

"I'm sure it’s going to be a subject, because at the last meeting we had, we spoke about the environment and how to make our residences more environmentally friendly," he said.

"It projects the image of responsibility. I think right now we have to think of the fact that we’ll eventually have to change for another source of fuel or other kind of propulsion."