What is the best green car can I buy in the UK?

Question

If you wanted to buy a UK car that is better for the environment, what are your options?

For background information on UK cars and the environment, check this news story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/06122006/344/sales-4x4-vehicles-slump.html

Answer 1

those smart cars are kinda funky

Answer 2

Buying the greenest car is a tricky one as we tend to focus on the MPG and forget about the imbedded energy in the manufacture of the car. It also depends on what your criteria is for it being green for instance the use of unrecyclable materials, the MPG (use of fossil fuels), pollution from emissions etc etc. That said I'd recommend a second hand Citroen C3 1.4Hdi. We had one for 3 years and got an average 67mpg (exactly the government figures) over that time and even got 82mpg once when on a long trip through France. It would've been 'greener' to keep it for longer than three years, maximising the embedded energy used to make it, but it was a company car that was replaced. Incidently we chose a Renault Modus 1.5Dci as a replacement which has been severly disapointing in the MPg figures (50MPG max when it is advertised as 63). I suspect the main reason is that it is a heavy car which shows how important it is to get a light car.

Therefore, probably the greenest car you could buy is a late 80's peugeot 205 diesel as they last for ages and are easily maintained and give 58MPG. But the safety of your family is compromised, therefore a 3 year old Citroen C3 1.4Hdi is probably a good compromise. Then when you've had it for 15 years and it's completely knackered you can recycle as much of it as possible.

As an aside, my wife and I are considering buying a secondhand Audi A2 1.2Tdi from Europe as you can't get the A2 with that engine over here. The advantage is that it was designed as an eco machine and does 95mpg on the combined cycle and will hopefully last a long time if we maintain it well.

Answer 3

Aside from the Smart Car, I'd recommend a classic Mini or Morris Minor (if you don't mind driving something 30 years old!).

You might want to look up something more modern- the Toyota Prius, which is a 'hybrid' car (runs off of petrol and electric combined). Also a Toyota Yaris or a VW Lupo Turbo Diesel (which does 104 miles to the gallon!).

Bear in mind that all of these cars (with the exception of the Prius) are fairly small- only the Yaris and the Morris Minor are avaliable in 4-door. However they all offer excellent economy and I applaud you for thinking of the 'green factor' when purchasing your new car!

I know classic cars aren't to everybody's taste but a lot of people are swayed when you consider a car registered by 1973 or before is tax-exempt, often very efficient, and are so mechanically simplistic that DIY repairs are relatively straighforward even for the uninitiated home mechanic (I can speak from experience, owning 8 classic minis and not having a clue about anything technical!)

Hope this helps, and good luck with the new car!

PS, for larger cars you might consider an LPG conversion although this can be expensive- there are plenty of companies offering this service so you'll have to shop around for the best deal.

Answer 4

Don't fall into the Toyota Prius (or other hybrids) trap.

I could rant on all day about the Toyota Prius and how its not as great as the press would have you believe...
- It does an average of 45mpg...the majority of diesel vehicles beat that.
- It has batteries which contain harmful chemicals

It would be good if it was driven in full electric mode all the time but then you have the limitation of a 28mph top speed and all that electric has to come from somewhere. which in most cases is a fossil fuel burning power station somewhere.

So... electric cars and petrol-hybrid cars are not the best idea...

However, a diesel hybrid would be a better solution as it already has the benefit of more mpg. Even better would be a biodiesel-hybrid...This would have the benefit of being carbon neutral as the biodiesel is produced from things such as rapeseed oil and soya beans (This would also bring life back into the farming industry)... The downside is... to my knowledge this hasn't been created yet and no-ones working on it.

A couple of manufacturers (Ford and Saab) have recently been developing Bioethanol cars, which should keep everyone happy... Carbon neutral as the fuel is produced from crops and apparently it has resulted in increased power outputs...

So... in answer to your question.....

Wait for a Bioethanol supermini....

Answer 5

well, I have Prius. I dont know if its the best you can buy but I do know that its very very good.

It seems to get a lot of criticism from folk who do not have one so here goes....

I took for its 20,000 service this morning and since I last filled up with petrol I had done 116miles at 51.6mpg. I know Clarkson et al can only get 40mpg but then, is that surprising ? In winter for most users mpg is low50s and in spring/autumn mid to high 50s.

On the environmental impact - the Environment Agency car list Prius is one of the "top two" for full life cycle environmental performance.

Our other car is an aging Cavalier - the Prius is slightly the bigger of the two on the inside.

It is very quiet in the car which is good but the best feature has to be the gearbox which is an auto continuously variable thing. No gear changes, not even the shudder of a normal automatic.

Answer 6

Best option: a second hand car running on lpg, probably with a fairly large engine, why?
1) My MG ZTT after conversion has NEGATIVE hydrocarbons and has significantly reduced its C02 emissions,
ALSO Many LPG vehicles are exempt from the congestion charge (check the powershift register)
2) LPG is the stuff that is burnt off by oilrigs! so by increasing demand we actually stop this happening!
3) LPG costs as little as 39ppl
large engine? well at speed these are less stressed than smaller units (why do you think V8's are legendary? they can run for several hundred thousand miles)
Second hand? Why encourage the use of raw materials to build a new car? a 3yr old is just run in!
remember simpler cars last longer (longest lived cars are the landrover and the volvo 240)

Answer 7

The cost to the environment of manufacturing cars like the prius is, according to recent reports, higher than the environmental impact of the manufacture and life long running of a Jeep Cherokee.

Better to go the classic car route, Morris Minor for example.. ~45MPG (same as most hybrid cars), environmental impact spread over 30-50 years (to date), very few plastics used in construction, repairs to the car has smaller impact to the environment than manufacturing of a new car and while a classic it's design was advanced enough that it the later models still stand up to modern motoring whilst having all these benefits.

Answer 8

It depends on what kinds of roads you will use it on and how often you will be travelling.
In many ways owning a medium/large car that is fuel efficient on long motorway journeys and only using ot for these journeys and taking public transport for short trips is a very green option.
The other alternative is to buy as small a car as possible and look for fuel efficiency up to 40mph and use it only to make trips to work or the shops, use the rail or coach network for longer journeys.
Essentially any type car can be green if used efficiently in the role it was designed for and if you have chosen a fuel efficient model from within the range.
Anyway I hope this helps - the car can only be as green as you are so think green to drive green.

Answer 9

Toyota Prius.

Although there is a lot of talk about the problems with disposing the batteries, by the time they're ready to scrap, there will most likely be a better solution. The only reason it is worse at present, is because it is new technology.

People seem to forget that although, at the moment, the overall polution appears to be worse, but if everyone drove one, we'd have much less smog and pollution to breathe in when we walk through the streets. That makes them better for asthma sufferers and helps stop adults and children getting the condition.

City mpg is about 56, due to it using absolutely no petrol at 30mph or under. Extra urban mpg is 67. So you'll definitely save money on petrol.

Also, they're comfy, automatic and have a lot of extras!

Answer 10

Hybrid cars are not as green as people think. They take a lot more energy to build than a regular car and at the end of their life you are left with the batteries to dispose of. Also, due to the extra weight of the batteries their fuel consumption is not that great.

Of the new cars on sale, the Toyota Aygo diesel is supposed to be greenest.

If you take the whole life cycle of a car into consideration, it is greenest to buy a second-hand car because most of a cars polution is created when it is manufactured.

Answer 11

Hi,
Some other countries in Europe have been thinking green for years...for example Switzerland and Germany, and I think it makes sense to see where their head start on these issues have led them.

When last in Switzerland I spotted an interesting looking vehicle, it had 3 wheels and inside it looked like the cockpit of a plane. This turned out to be the best performing electric car on the planet...and the most fun to drive.

It is 100% recyclable...yes!!!...including the batteries!
Does virtually 60 mph and will do that for 90 miles on a single charge.

Best of all it's European so the money does not go to the US or Japan, it stays in our little community :-)

See it here: http://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=453

Let me know what you think...