Top Ten ´Green´ Cars
Author: Robin Brown
Published: 14 June 2007
What do we mean by green cars? Well, that’s the $64m question at the moment.
It’s increasingly difficult to measure how eco-friendly cars are amidst manufacturer hype, growing concerns about the green credentials of biofuels and hybrid batteries and the effectiveness of carbon off-setting.
Most people take the dual figures of a car’s combined fuel economy (the fuel economy average over town and motorway driving conditions) and CO2 outputs, figures that are undoubtedly improved by hybrids and modern diesels. However, biofuels are something of a grey area without more research.
Another consideration not taken into account by official manufacturer figures is the so-called ‘dust-to-dust’ impact of cars, considering the energy expenditure of building a car, running it through to scrapping it.
If you want to buy a ‘green’ car there are difficult choices ahead. We can provide you with the information to make your mind up, but we can’t do it for you.
What we present below isn’t the definitive list of green cars on the road according to any one factor; be it fuel economy, CO2 emissions or other chemical emissions – and it is subjective.
But our list will give you a range of choices across segments and highlight the pros and cons of each model.
As for the G-Wiz, it´s cheap and genuinely green motoring. Just don´t smash it into a wall.
Land Rover Freelander 2
With medium-to-high carbon emissions and merely adequate fuel economy figures the Freelander 2 is not going to win any green awards.
However, its economy and emission figures are respectable in the SUV segment and, the feather in the cap, Land Rover offsets the first 45,000 miles worth of carbon emissions for any new car sold and offsets all the carbon from it factories.
It must be stated for the purposes of transparency that the science and eco benefits of off-setting are somewhat controversial and hard to verify.
• Read a review of the Land Rover Freelander 2
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Toyota Prius
Touted by a host of Hollywood celebs (Diaz, Clooney, DiCaprio), the Prius is the ugly pin-up of the green motorist, returning around 65mpg and pumping out a lowly 104g/km.
Neither handling nor performance are significantly compromised, and there’s the added benefit of Prius owners waving at you, plus ducking that Congestion Charge if you live in London.
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Vauxhall Tigra
Not a car you’d necessarily associate with eco credentials, the 1.3-litre CDTi diesel Tigra emits the least amount of CO2 of any convertible on the road bar the Smart Fortwo Cabriolet, but that’s disgusting and rubbish.
As a bonus it has the best combined fuel economy of any convertible (or cabriolets, as we call them at MotorTorque) bar the Citroen C3 Pluriel (similarly rubbish).
Probably wouldn’t buy one if you’re a bloke though.
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MINI Cooper D
BMW – which make the new MINI – is the standard-bearer for wringing the most efficiency out of its cars through numerous programmes that save and recycle energy.
The new MINI Cooper D diesel returns 72mpg on the combined cycle and pumps out a measly 104g/km thanks to Brake Energy Regeneration, Stop/Start technology and Switch Point Display, which selects the most economical gear for the terrain and driving conditions.
The new MINI Cooper D will be available later in the year.
• Read a review of the MINI Cooper D.
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Saab 9-3 1.8 BioPower
Every car in the Saab range now has the option of a biofuel engine, so whichever model you choose from the Swedish aviation company there’s the choice of a smug feeling of superiority.
Saab’s biofuel cars run of E85 bioethanol and offer uprated torque and power, but here we start to see the very problem facing ‘green’ cars: Saab’s biofuel range isn’t particularly green.
In fact, if you want a green car you may want to look at a Saab 9-5 Saloon Turbodiesel, which will give you another 50% on your fuel economy and save 25% of carbon emissions.
Saab will argue – perhaps not unfairly – that the CO2 offset by growing the crops makes for a de facto cut in emissions – up to 70%.
But with the environmental impact of biofuel crops hard to discern, lauding the green credentials of any bio-fuel car – including those from Ford, Lexus or Volvo – seems, for the time being, complicated.
• Read a review of the Saab 9-3.
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Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107
Lumped together because they are – to all intent and purpose – the same car.
These little superminis are included due to their incredible stinginess with the go-juice, managing a combined fuel economy of 61.4mpg and releasing only 109g/km of the evil carbon with the 1-litre engine.
• Read a review of the Peugeot 107
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Ford Focus FFV
FFV stands for Flex-Fuel Vehicle, but you knew that already.
Ford’s FFVs can run on petrol or biofuels, or a mix of the two, using Bioethanol E85 made from wheat with no loss of power.
Running on pure bioethanol The FFV is responsible for around a third of the CO2 the same model would emit while running on gas, when the carbon extracted from the atmosphere in growing the biofuel crops is factored in.
As we’ve seen with Saab, though, this does raise certain questions which have yet to be thoroughly investigated. FFV C-Max models are also available.
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Jeep Wrangler
With a massive CO2 output in excess of 300g/km the Jeep Wrangler should have no place in a list like this. It is pretty much the very epitome of the American SUV that is as eco-friendly as it is child-friendly.
However, according to a study by CNW Marketing Research the Wrangler has the smallest ‘dust-to-dust’ energy use of any car in the world due to its ease of manufacture, recycling and a longer lifespan.
According to the report, then, a Jeep Wrangler beats the Prius hands down for dust-to-dust emissions.
The dust-to-dust notion is sound. The report – however – is not, with dubious methodology and guesstimation undermining the claims.
Still, bet it caught your eye.
• Read a review of the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.
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Lexus RX400h
Another SUV hybrid with claims to offer guilt-free motoring, the RX400h advertising campaign dropped Lexus in hot water recently for its "high performance, low emissions, zero guilt" headline.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) upheld complaints that the Lexus claimed to feature "category-leading low CO2 emissions" at 192g/km – a boast that, while arguably true, was deemed misleading.
The ASA reckoned that people could infer from the advert that: " the car caused little or no harm to the environment, which was not the case, and had low emissions in comparison with all cars, which was also not the case."
Which kind of sums up the problem with many green cars.
Lexus offers other hybrids in the form of GS 450h and LS 600h saloons.
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Honda Civic Hybrid
Part-electric motor, part-petrol engine the Civic Hybrid offers 61.4mpg on the combined cycle with CO2 emissions of 109g/km, with Stop/Start technology increasing efficiency.
Even better for those of a hair-shirt disposition the Civic Hybrid offers pretty poor performance and handling when compared to the petrol and diesel Civics.
• Read of the review of the Honda Civic Hybrid.
Do your homework before you choose a car on its supposed green credentials.
How is the Wrangler possibly better for the environment than the Prius? It doesn´t make sense.
I´m looking forward to the Tesla Roadster and Lotus Zap-X. Electric cars with small recharge times and huge power and torque. Brilliant!
Al- you didn´t read the article did you?
No he didn´t, some thing I said all along about my 1991 Jeep Wrangler. The fact I drove it for 10 years myself, kept it on the road for almost 20 made it so that I was using less energy than most if not all hydrids even with the bad mileage.
Any lorries run on 100% bio-diesel?
I have often said my Land Rover is better for the planet than any eco-car and it is. 47 years and it´s still going. Compare that to building five cars to cover the same lifespan. We need to get away from the disposable society and make things last again!
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I´d no idea that the green car thing was such a minefield. I fear you have raised more questions than you have answered, but I´m grateful for the warning!