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, designed to be more fuel efficient and produce less or no carbon emissions, have never really fitted into either of these groups. Sure, it’s a nice idea that you could help to save the planet by driving a different car, but let's face it these environmentally friendly cars just aren't capable of performing as well as their petrol-powered counterparts, and they're normally not cheap either.
But it could be that’s all about to change. Growing concern over the environmental issues caused by cars and other vehicles, combined with the effects of the global recession means that people are starting to move towards buying more fuel efficient vehicles. Car buyers are starting to consider greener alternatives to petrol as a viable future for the car industry, and the technology is developing and improving in leaps and bounds. The latest eco friendly vehicles were on display at the Revolve Eco Rally recently, beginning on Brighton seafront and driving to City Hall in London. The cars were driven by celebrity guest drivers and they were met in London 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 demonstrate the capabilities of the latest green cars, and awards were given to vehicles in a number of categories. 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, for showing that electric cars can go the extra mile and proving that they can perform as well as any car enthusiast could hope.
And the reason for all this? Well, the future of motoring looks like it could be green after all. Yes at this point they do still cost quite a bit more than most cars, but it won't be long before they won’t cost the earth, and it seems like when they do become more affordable people will want one whatever type of car they normally drive.
