Find an Eco Friendly Car
In this world of pollution, green transportation is really the solution. (No pun intended.) Plenty of auto manufacturers want to lure you in with the promise that their car is "green", but how do you know what is true?
Steps
- Figure out what you are looking for. As far as eco-friendly cars go, you have three options: hybrid, regular gas powered, full electric, clean diesel, and ethanol powered. Each has advantages.
- With a hybrid, you have the ability to save a good deal of money on gasoline, because your car is partially powered by electricity. The only cons to this are the facts that hybrids tend to need alternator service after a while, and usually have a high initial purchasing cost.
- Despite what it may seem, many regular, gasoline powered cars are getting incredibly MPG ratings (35-40). Getting a gas car is a good idea because of the low initial cost and because of the lack of extremely expensive repair. The big downside, however, is that you are still using a gas car, a fuel efficient one, but still not one that does not dump terrible emissions out of its tailpipe.
- Full electric cars are becoming the buzz of the news and practical media darlings. They are powered fully off of electricity, go for many thousands of miles on a single charge, and have zero toxic emissions. Despite the fact that this type is definitely the most fuel efficient out of all the aforementioned, electric car technology has a long way to go. Multiple electric cars in the same neighborhood will not work because this could cause a brownout. Some early models of electric cars are reporting issues, and they are only available in limited supply in certain states. Despite these cons, for the real green early adopter, this may not be a bad choice. If you are adventurous enough, you can even try to convert your current car into an electric car with conversion kits.
- Clean diesel has been a popular phrase among the auto industry for many years, but now days it does not get the same attention that it used to garner. Diesel cars use diesel fuel, of course, which allows many advantages, including insane fuel efficiency, easy start-up in cold weather, and availability of fuel. The problem with diesel cars is the fact that they are becoming a rarity. VW and Mercedes are some of the last car companies still making them, and they are not what some might think of as cheap. Also, diesel fuel traditionally costs more than gas, despite how efficient it is. But on the plus side, diesel cars do not have terrible maintenance requirements and typically last for a while.
- At one point, ethanol cars were considered to be the future "green" cars, until hybrids and full electrics overtook them in popularity. Even still, ethanol powered cars have significant advantages. Many Chevrolet cars are flex fuel, meaning that they can be filled up with E85 or regular gasoline (not both at the same time, however). The previously mentioned fact means that finding these cars will be quite easy. Ethanol is not outrageously expensive; it is only a bit more than gas. The only problems with ethanol as a fuel are related to corn supply (because it is a corn-based fuel). Many critics of ethanol claim that it is driving up corn prices and making corn impossible to deliver to poor countries. Despite critics' arguments, many of their claims are unproven. It would be impossible for ethanol cars to drive up corn prices all that much when it is considered that not to many people use the fuel in comparison to gasoline.
- Once you have an idea of what you want, go to your car dealer. Decide on what MPG rating you are looking for, and do specific research for any car model that you consider online. Many automakers omit crucial details about actual fuel economy that will take deeper digging to find.
- Realize that you do not have to compromise. Almost all automakers are offering up fairly fuel efficient (and hybrid) cars due to consumer demand, and there is absolutely no reason why you should not be able to find a car made by your favorite manufacturer. The only exception to the "no need to compromise rule" is the age of the car. Very few hybrids were made before the early 2000s, and there were also very few fuel efficient cars made at this time as well. If you must buy used, do not go more than 10 years back.
- Enjoy your new car! Driving a car is another way that we, as humans, harm the environment, but by trying to get the most fuel efficient car possible, you can mitigate the damage that is being done to the earth.
