Anyone drive a hybrid?

[PMC]

Electric cars or hybrids are brilliant in theory, but the environmental damage caused by a vehicle isn't just caused by emissions alone - we need to take into account the construction and recycling costs of such a car.

Although battery technology has come a very long way in a short space of time, their life is still finite and they're still costly to manufacture/recycle, not to mention the fact that they'll add weight to any vehicle which already has an internal combustion engine installed.

I believe that ambient temperature is also a huge factor in the efficiency of a battery also.  

However, the reduction in greenhouse emissions from a hybrid car is more of a moot point when you consider how many tonnes of carbon are pumped out by the fast growing air travel industry....

[PMC]

I'm sorry but a lot of bollocks has been written about the level of pollution emitted by private cars.  

For example, in the UK emissions from commercial haulage and indeed rail transport are included in 'official' carbon emission statistics from private cars (source: Dept of Transport).  On a BBC web forum I challenged the then junior minister of transport to add substance to his statistics, citing the example I'll shortly give about air travel.

Make no mistake, the private motorist is the scapegoat for the sins of industry and the British government in particular aren't even bothering to mask their cynicism.  I've watched with interest for fifteen years as fuel taxation has been steadily hiked, with next to zero additional investment in public transport.  We're being bent over and royally stiffed folks, saving the Earth is being used as a cynical excuse for the actions of a cash strapped treasury.

I'm NOT saying I want to continue sticking two fingers up and driving my 2.5 litre V6 in defiance - far from it - but I need a viable alternative.  My local rail company has hiked fares by 7% in the past few weeks, with no improvement in services yet seen.  I'll switch to an electric car if necessary, provided congestion is eased with new roads and buyers incentive schemes.  Where are they?

So how much carbon does my 2.5 litre Alfa Romeo emit?  Put it this way, it'll take 120 years of motoring for me to emit as much CO2 as a 747 flying from London to Washington DC, which is a distance my car can cover in 3 months of average motoring - with four passengers on board.  

In short, I want to do my bit, but not as an unwilling cash cow for a greedy politician.

[PMC]

Agafaster wrote:
@PMC: is that 2.5l V6 a petrol engine ? :-o
makes me feel way less guilty about my 1.8l straight-four !

although I doubt you'd be able to actually drive your Alfa to Washington - although you could drive it back about halfway ! ;-)

Yeah, it's a petrol... Roughly 2500 miles to the breakdown ;-)

However, I cycle to work 4 out of 5 days per week and use public transport wherever possible so I'd say I'm pretty eco-friendly all told.

I just hate the political hypocrisy, it's all very well for the general public to give up our cars so that HM Govt can crow all they like about "economic growth" (which relies on the expaning air travel industry), but I'll take my responsibilities seriously once I see Blair/Brown et al turning up for work in a Ford Focus instead of a Jaguar V8.  

That my friends, is politicians at their most cynical - Cameron's bike ride to work with his Lexus following with his briefcase is another example of why we need to force the issue right up the political agenda.  

[PMC]

Hyperspeed wrote:

The biggest finger of shame should be pointed at companies like BMW, Mercedes, Ford and Fiat. They have done jack sh¡t for environmentally friendly cars.

Erm, not sure...  BMW is investing heavily in hydrogen power (See 7 series concept car)

Mercedes?  Pioneered practical diesel power and actively researching biofuels with A class test vehicles.

Ford?  Owns Volvo, who are again sponsoring biofuel research.  Also patented a radiator grille which converts Ozone (O3) to Oxygen (O2).  Ozone is great in the Stratosphere, but at sea level it is often a major cause of childhood asthma and is a by product of heavy industry.  Better known as "smog" in LA.  

Fiat?  Okay, I hate Fiat.  Not because of their environmental credentials but because the damn things break down more often than Britney Spears.  However, the majority of their cars are small engined, economy sized vehicles.  Alfa Romeo can be credited with releasing the first performance diesel in 1997 with the 156 JTD.  150 horsepower and 45mpg?  Was seem here first...

The Japanese brands (especially Honda) seem to understand the importance of lowering emissions.  

If you're looking for an environmental menace try at GM - with brands like Cadillac, Chevrolet and Pontiac, they've sold more V8 engines than anyone else.  Also, GM owned Du-Pont was responsible for lead additives in petrol, plus GM's promising Impact electric car of the early 1990s amounted to nought, despite early promotional films showing an Impact beating a Nissan 200sx to sixty from a standing start. They could have made eco-friendly sexy a decade ago.

Electric cars do have potential to be sexy - an electric motor produces 100% of it's torque from the get go, unlike a petrol engine (my old Golf 1.8 16v needed 4,100 rpm before delivering max pulling power).  Not only that but once the problems of battery weight are solved, an electric motor is small enough to be incorporated into a hub and combined with the braking system to generate power.  Want four wheel drive in a compact hatchback?  Can be done, once the power storage issue is resolved.

However, we need to solve the very non-eco friendly issues involved with producing and disposing of a new generation of electric cars.