What are the greenest cars?

TOYOTA are planning a hybrid  petrol-electric Camry to hit the streets in 2010, and it may not even be the lowest emitter.

Some are working on developing an all-electric car in the next 20-30 years.  Hopefully this won’t be powered by high emitting coal fired power stations!   Others are looking at diesel electric hybrids and hydrogen cars.

At the moment clean-burning diesels have the potential to match or exceed hybrids in terms of cutting greenhouse gases but the hybrid is seen as a key transition fuel ahead of an electric car, whether it is battery operated or powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

“The hybrid involves the introduction of electric power with petrol, so it is developing in the right direction until we have a long-term alternative,” said Michael Case, chief engineer at Victorian motorist organisation the RACV.   It is the next logical step in the move towards alternative fuels,” he said.

Hybrids perform well in cities where the power from frequent braking is captured and used, but they are more petrol-reliant on the open road. Their large batteries also make the cars heavier.

In the nearer term, it may be possible to develop a diesel hybrid to capture the best of both,”.  Toyota believes the hybrid can provide that initial move away from liquid fuels while still presenting an affordable car with the performance of a petrol vehicle.

“We are studying every possible alternative technology, including diesel hybrid,” Toyota Australia president Max Yasuda said.  “With current technology, we can build (a diesel hybrid) but it isn’t economic at this point in time,” he said.

In some areas of California, hybrids enjoy free parking and can use transit lanes.   Toyota has already raised with government the possibility of such measures here and there have been calls for tax breaks and discounts on registration.

According to Toyota, the hybrid produces 30 per cent less emissions than the petrol-only model.
It could be charged up in the home or office, and used a small petrol engine only to charge up the battery.

envirojean

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Global Warming, Climate Change & Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.