So What Are Green Cars, Really?

Ask someone what comes into mind when you say green cars, and the answer's likely to be a Japanese or German car model that runs partly on battery power. Yes, this is currently the entire car industry's state of the art that's in mass production, but the idea of green cars go far beyond hybrids.

The truth is the first cars ever made were already green cars in a way, being run on electricity in the late 19th century. However, petroleum was discovered to be plentiful and a cheap fuel source for running engines at controlled, constant speeds with immediate responses to fuel intake.

However, internal combustion as a way of converting petrol into engine power creates soot and releases noxious gases into the air, and wastes a good portion of the fuel besides. Until a Japanese car manufacturer invented a cleaner-burning internal combustion engine with pistons, dense clouds of odorous black smoke were accepted as motoring's aftermath.

Not anymore, as new technologies come to the rescue! Electricity in the form of stored-charge batteries and fuel cells create only water and heat on the car's end, and the power could be ultimately coming from a hydro-electric dam. Electric power and a smart engine take off grams of carbon from every cubic litre of exhaust.


Saving fuel is another goal all green cars aim for, since less energy burned means more available for the future. Rather than a finite resource, like petrol deposits or tar sands, green cars strive to use as much energy from replenishable methods as possible. Batteries could be recharged at night from a huge field of turbines ever-rotating in the breeze; engines could drink a mixture of petrol and plant oils, even recycled and processed cooking oil.

To be realistic about it, car companies are already capable of building green cars, but economic ways of producing them for the needs of normal drivers are still to be figured out, not just here but even in the biggest car markets. Like any other car, green cars have to rate high on exterior body styling, accessories, creature comforts and safety. Green cars must fit into contemporary lifestyles to click, unless drivers themselves are ready to change their driving habits to do a little bit of saving the earth from the drastic burdens of pollution.