Fact: cars produce vehicle emissions (carbon dioxide & pollutants). You simply won’t find a car that has zero impact on the environment. But some are more sustainable than others...

Maybe you should just take the bus?  Drag out the bike rusting in the garage?  Walk?

We don’t always need to use our car, but there are often all sorts of reasons that non-car transport choices don’t always work for people.  It makes sense to choose the right car for our needs.

Alternatives to Petrol & Diesel

The only way to drive with minimal emissions is to drive a vehicle powered by electricity that comes from a renewable source.  But purely electric cars are not readily available and still have limited range.  Although they may theoretically be cheaper over longer distances, current options would be practical for very few people.

Even electric vehicles have to get their energy from somewhere. If this source is wind or hydro-generated electricity it is sustainable, but if it is from a coal fired power station then there is still a CO2 impact.

The best solution available today are vehicles which use fuel much more efficiently. Hybrid cars use around half the fuel of similar vehicles in their class, and produce significantly less air pollutants. The most widely known hybrid vehicle is the Toyota Prius, but many more models are becoming available.

Sustainable and Practical?

Car makers are working on more environmentally friendly vehicles, and that gives you options when it comes to the sustainability of the car you choose.

Green is Good For You

Let’s be selfish for a moment. Fuel costs are a big part of the cost of ownership of any car and fuel use is a key determinant of the environmental impact of your car.

Choosing a fuel efficient car benefits you because it will cost you less to run, and it benefits the environment because a car that burns less fuel produces fewer emissions. Everybody wins.

It’s Not Just Fuel and Vehicle Emissions

But there is more to sustainability than fuel efficiency and minimising emissions.

A car’s full environmental impact spreads across its lifetime. A lifetime that starts when a car’s parts are manufactured and ends when its useful life is over and it is broken back down into those parts.

That’s why a car’s reliability and the quality of its construction have an environmental dimension – the longer a car lasts the fewer cars we need to produce. And whether a car is recyclable matters too. 

Taking the time to investigate the sustainability and vehicle emissions produced by your new car helps you understand the total cost of owning it. Not only that, it also helps you decide whether the vehicle is a practical solution for you and a good one for the environment...

Hybrid vehicles are becoming more readily available and can offer a practical lower emission option.