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Green Cars Won’t Cost the Earth

by Lisa

When it comes to buying new cars, a lot of people fall in to one of two groups – those who don’t particularly care about the car itself, and will be looking for the cheapest option or the least likely to break down, and petrol heads who want the fastest, sleekest, coolest car they can find. ‘Green’ cars, using alternative or adapted technologies to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions, have never really fitted into either of these groups. Yes it’s nice to think you could make a difference with the car you drive, but let’s face it these environmentally friendly cars just aren’t capable of performing as well as their petrol-powered counterparts, and they usually cost a lot more too.

But these ideas could change and soon. A heightened awareness of green issues and climate change combined with the general public’s need to find the cheapest cars to run in the recession means that people are starting to move towards buying more fuel efficient vehicles. More and more people are beginning to realise that greener alternatives to petrol could well be the future of motoring, and the technology is developing and improving in leaps and bounds. The recent Revolve Eco Rally showcased the latest in environmentally friendly cars, driving en mass from Madeira Drive in Brighton to gather outside London’s City Hall. The cars were driven by celebrity guest drivers and on arrival in London were met by Mayor Boris Johnson, who is a strong supporter of green transport and aims to cut London’s carbon emissions by 60%, for the What Car? Green Awards.

The purpose of the rally and the awards was to show what the latest developments in green cars are capable of, and vehicles received awards for a number of different reasons. The overall winner was the Volvo S40 DRIVe for combining its green credentials and supreme fuel efficiency with safety, security and being an all-round good small family car – it’s still not cheap though, and for around £50 more you can buy a Toyota Avensis, winner of the large family car category. Other winners were the Mini Cooper S, which won best green sports car for the second year running, and for those who still have cash to spare and can afford to buy an Audi the A8 was named best green luxury car. The innovative Tesla scooped the Editors Award for its battery-powered Roadster, which takes electric cars to a whole new level and performs well enough to please even the most picky of petrol-heads.

And the result of all this? Well, it looks as if the future of motoring could be green after all. Yes at this point they do still cost quite a bit more than most cars, but a time is fast approaching where they won’t cost the earth, and it looks like when that time comes people will be queueing up to buy one.

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