Buying Green Cars

'Green' is the buzzword of our generation. With global concern about climate change, growing awareness of the harm caused by greenhouse gases and constant calls for a reduction in carbon emissions, the environment is front and centre across a broad range of topics, from politics to buying a car.

Buying any motor vehicle is a big investment and there are a number of things to consider before you decide which vehicle fulfils your needs best. Price is an obvious factor, but so are performance, safety features, size, reliability, comfort, styling and, for some people, prestige. Now the process has been further complicated by an increasing interest in the green credentials of a car. But what exactly is it that makes one vehicle greener and more eco-friendly than another?

Fuel

For many drivers, this is their main concern when it comes to buying a green car – how is it powered and what kind of fuel does it use? Regular petrol is now recognized as a major contributor to greenhouse gases and so motorists are keen to find environmentally friendly vehicles which produce lower or even zero carbon emissions. There are a few contenders for the accolade of greenest fuel.

Diesel – Whilst far from perfect, diesel cars are certainly less harmful to the environment than their petrol guzzling cousins, being slightly more efficient when it comes to burning fuel and so giving better mileage due to increased fuel efficiency.

Biodiesel – This is an evolutionary step closer to green fuel. Biodiesel cars run on a mixture of ethanol and regular diesel at ratios of 20% to 99% ethanol. This is great for the future of green motoring, but it should be noted that biodiesel suits new engines rather than older ones as some parts of older style diesel engines can be corroded by biodiesel.

Ethanol – Ethanol is produced by fermenting plant sugars into alcohol. It is readily available and has the important advantage over regular diesel and biodiesel of being carbon neutral. Many of the current generation of green vehicles that are being manufactured have flexi-fuel engines which can run on fuel containing up to 15% ethanol.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG/LP Gas/Autogas) – LPG is less of a pollutant than petrol or diesel as is burns more cleanly and doesn't contain any tetra-ethyl lead.

Electric Vehicles

The other type of green car that is really getting a lot of publicity is the electric car. Put very simply, electric cars are powered by a big battery. At present, most need to be recharged regularly and this is achieved by plugging them straight into the mains. Having said that, there is technology being developed overseas which may see battery swap services springing up across Australia in the future. Even more exciting is the news from America that Honda has rolled out the FCX Clarity which doesn't need mains electricity at all but instead is run on a unique hydrogen–fuelled power cell.

Hybrids

Hybrid cars work on a combination of a standard petrol-fuelled engine and an electric motor. In general, the electric motor powers the hybrid car at lower speeds, whilst the petrol engine kicks in at higher ones.

Limitations

If you are looking to buy a truly green car, than a number of the options listed above have clear reservations attached to them:

• Diesel, biodiesel, ethanol and LPG, whilst all lesser environmental evils than straight petrol are all either petroleum based, or require mixing with petroleum-based fuels before they actually make it into any motor vehicle. They are a move in the right direction, but not a solution to carbon emissions in themselves.

• Hybrid vehicles suffer the same fate. The implementation of an electric battery pack is great, but hybrid cars still also use a petrol run combustion engine part of the time, so they still contribute greatly to greenhouse gases.

• Electric vehicles are great at first glance, but when you look a little deeper, cracks start to appear. The biggest concern with electric cars is that they need to be recharged regularly and at present, this is usually done via a mains plug socket. So where does the electricity in a mains socket come from? An electric power station. And how is the electricity produced in an electric power plant? By burning fossil fuels, which release pollutants which exacerbate the whole greenhouse gases/carbon emissions crisis. OK, so electric cars may be less harmful to our planet than petrol burning ones, but there is still an environmental cost and this will continue to be the case until we find alternative ways to power electric engines. In addition to all this, there is still the problem that electric cars in general aren't sexy, don't reach great top speeds and fail to go any distance before you have to top up the battery again – all issues which need to be overcome if the electric car is to become a serious contender on the congested roads of this country.

Other Environmental Factors

Beyond how your car is powered, there are a number of other factors that you should investigate if you really wish to buy a green car. One thing that is starting to draw more attention is the carbon footprint produced in building a motor vehicle in the first place. What quantity of greenhouse gases does the factory where the car is made belch out in making a 'green car'? What is your green car made of? Is any of it produced from recycled materials, or has everything been dug out of the ground, extracted, blended, and manufactured from scratch? There is a greater ecological picture behind green cars than simply how they are powered and we need to introduce green technology from the first step through to the last if we are to create truly environmentally friendly vehicles.

Another cost that we need to count is how ready we are to trade in our 'old' car for a newer model just because we've had it for a set number of years. In this matter, many corporations are just as bad as private individuals and possibly even influence the larger mindset with many large businesses renewing their employee's fleet vehicles every 2 years. There has been much reported about how Australian companies wish to increase their green brownie points by introducing green cars, vans and trucks into their fleets, but getting more out of their vehicles in the first place maybe the best thing that they can do for a greener planet.

Buying Green Cars

As you can see, if you really want to do what's best for future generations of motorists there are lots of different variables to assess before you take the plunge and buy a green car. Having said that, there is no doubt that we will see more demand for green cars and that should continue to encourage motor vehicle manufacturers to develop greener vehicles across all stages of the production process, from the sourcing of raw materials to driving the car away from the showroom.