Hi there! I’ll shift gears in this post to those vehicles that in the new year might arouse the interest of people who are plugged into the ‘green car’ scene. Some names of cars have already been mentioned in earlier posts. There’s the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric that tops the list as a car with zero emissions. It needs up to 7 hours to recharge, has a top speed of 87 mph and gives 0-62 mph in 13.0 seconds. Up next is the Smart fortwo cdi with carbon dioxide emissions of 88 g/km. It is powered by a diesel engine that can produce 45 bhp. With a top speed of 84 mph this car can accelerate from 0-62 mph in 19.8 seconds.
The Ford Ka ECOnetic, Toyota iQ, and Volkswagen Golf Mk VI BlueMotion are all tied at third place with carbon dioxide emissions of 99 g/km. Having said that, I must also state that in the case of the Ford Ka ECOnetic, carbon dioxide emissions are 'expected' to be in range of 99 g/km. Ford’s offering in its ECOnetic range bears testimony to its committed efforts at rolling out eco-friendly vehicles. The Toyota iQ is the smallest 4-seater car in the whole wide world. With an engine capable of producing 67 bhp and an average of 65.7 mpg, this car has a top speed of 93 mph and can reach 60 mph in 14.0 seconds. However, for its size it is a pricey car. If economics are at the top your agenda, the manual transmission variant is a better choice. Moving on, the Volkswagen Golf Mk VI BlueMotion that will roll out in September this year will give 74.3 mpg and race to 62 mph in a fairly decent 11.3 seconds. This car has a top speed of 117 mph.
The Toyota Prius hybrid scheduled to release in June this year is expected to have carbon dioxide emissions of 100 g/km. This 5-seater has a petrol engine and will give 75 mpg. Next on our list is the Nissan Pixo which is like the Suzuki Alto in many ways. The Pixo is a 4-seater hatchback and will be available in both manual and automatic transmission variants. This is due for release in September this year. With carbon dioxide emissions of 103 g/km this car gives 61.4 mpg. The Honda Insight hybrid is expected to be among the showstoppers this year. This vehicle has carbon emissions of 110 g/km. Toyota Prius which so far was unchallenged faces stiff competition from this vehicle which is already on the market.
Others vehicles that are keenly awaited are the Honda CR-Z hybrid which is slated for release December this year and the Lexus RX450h SUV hybrid scheduled to roll out sometime this summer.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Meanies
Through 2006, 2007, and 2008, some models of vehicles have remained notably notorious as polluting vehicles. With no malicious propaganda on my agenda :)the first name that comes to my mind among several others that also feature on lists of most polluting vehicles is the Volkswagen Touareg. It has a dismally low green score of 14. Remember green score? The Jeep Grand Cherokee’s another vehicle with a poor green score of 17. Surprisingly I don’t see the Ford F-250 on any 2008 list. I don’t know what to think quite frankly. Has it decided to clean up its act? Let me see if I can come up with more on that.
How about those furiously fast babies like ‘supercars’, as they are called? These mean machines have a lot of muscle tucked away under their hood. All those boastful claims of taming raw, savage power and bringing it those who can afford it certainly serves to impress. Is there a man among us who wouldn’t want to ride a tiger and have it behave submissively? Even domineering women get turned on by such talk :)I mean, which alpha woman wouldn’t want to zip around in one of these beats? And of course, you are not likely to let environmental concerns trouble your conscience when you are clipping along a stretch of asphalt that’s as smooth as a baby’s bottom in one of these mean machines that roar like a jet engine and purr like a wild cat. The truth is, these guys are super devils actually, when you realize the damage they do to our environment. Hear this - on an average, these super fast cars emit carbon dioxide in excess of 400 grams per kilometer (400 g/ km) which is sinfully high. So for those of us who look longingly at these super machines, standing outside a car showroom, face pressed against a sheet of glass, before the showroom manager lets fly a volley of abuses that you are slobbering all over that squeaky clean sheet of glass, there’s your shocker, revelation or whatever you want to call it.
Let’s begin with a list of vehicles that made to the top ten spots in 2008 for reasons they’d rather sweep under the carpet. This is the kind of publicity they’d shy away from. At 396grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer or 396g/km, the Bentley Continental sounds like the best of a bad bunch. The brawny Hummer H2, must surely disappoint the ‘modern man’ with its high carbon dioxide emission rate of 412g/km. The Mercedes G500 isn’t trailing far behind either at 400g/km. But wait till you hear about supercars like the Bugatti Veyron and the Lamborghini Murcielago. Their carbon dioxide emissions will make emission levels of these cars seem like a trifling offence. The Lamborghini Murcielago, a regular on lists of polluting cars has a poor green score of 17. Its carbon dioxide emissions are as dangerously high as 495g/km and in its roadster variant, even higher at 500 g/km! And the Bugatti Veyron…you want to take a guess? Well, let’s say, that at a staggering 571g/km (!!!) this supercar’s emission levels beats everything else. Ferrari never wants to be left behind in any way. Models like the 599 GTB Fiorano and F430 also have very high carbon dioxide emission levels of 490g/km and 420g/km respectively.
Some countries have decided to deal firmly with models of polluting cars. Switzerland, France, Germany, Britain, Spain, China, United States, to name a few. One popular government measure appears to be the levying of a higher tax rate on polluting cars. Germany, only recently proposed government discounts on new cars persuading people to scrap their old cars, a move welcomed by car manufacturers. The United States introduced a scheme called ‘Cash for Clunkers’. Owners of old cars were entitled to cash vouchers of up to $ 4500 on scrapping their cars and going in for vehicles that gave good miles per gallon performance. I hope such endeavors galvanize other countries into action.
In my next post let’s touch on some eagerly awaited releases in the new year.
How about those furiously fast babies like ‘supercars’, as they are called? These mean machines have a lot of muscle tucked away under their hood. All those boastful claims of taming raw, savage power and bringing it those who can afford it certainly serves to impress. Is there a man among us who wouldn’t want to ride a tiger and have it behave submissively? Even domineering women get turned on by such talk :)I mean, which alpha woman wouldn’t want to zip around in one of these beats? And of course, you are not likely to let environmental concerns trouble your conscience when you are clipping along a stretch of asphalt that’s as smooth as a baby’s bottom in one of these mean machines that roar like a jet engine and purr like a wild cat. The truth is, these guys are super devils actually, when you realize the damage they do to our environment. Hear this - on an average, these super fast cars emit carbon dioxide in excess of 400 grams per kilometer (400 g/ km) which is sinfully high. So for those of us who look longingly at these super machines, standing outside a car showroom, face pressed against a sheet of glass, before the showroom manager lets fly a volley of abuses that you are slobbering all over that squeaky clean sheet of glass, there’s your shocker, revelation or whatever you want to call it.
Let’s begin with a list of vehicles that made to the top ten spots in 2008 for reasons they’d rather sweep under the carpet. This is the kind of publicity they’d shy away from. At 396grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer or 396g/km, the Bentley Continental sounds like the best of a bad bunch. The brawny Hummer H2, must surely disappoint the ‘modern man’ with its high carbon dioxide emission rate of 412g/km. The Mercedes G500 isn’t trailing far behind either at 400g/km. But wait till you hear about supercars like the Bugatti Veyron and the Lamborghini Murcielago. Their carbon dioxide emissions will make emission levels of these cars seem like a trifling offence. The Lamborghini Murcielago, a regular on lists of polluting cars has a poor green score of 17. Its carbon dioxide emissions are as dangerously high as 495g/km and in its roadster variant, even higher at 500 g/km! And the Bugatti Veyron…you want to take a guess? Well, let’s say, that at a staggering 571g/km (!!!) this supercar’s emission levels beats everything else. Ferrari never wants to be left behind in any way. Models like the 599 GTB Fiorano and F430 also have very high carbon dioxide emission levels of 490g/km and 420g/km respectively.
Some countries have decided to deal firmly with models of polluting cars. Switzerland, France, Germany, Britain, Spain, China, United States, to name a few. One popular government measure appears to be the levying of a higher tax rate on polluting cars. Germany, only recently proposed government discounts on new cars persuading people to scrap their old cars, a move welcomed by car manufacturers. The United States introduced a scheme called ‘Cash for Clunkers’. Owners of old cars were entitled to cash vouchers of up to $ 4500 on scrapping their cars and going in for vehicles that gave good miles per gallon performance. I hope such endeavors galvanize other countries into action.
In my next post let’s touch on some eagerly awaited releases in the new year.
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