Consumer Demand for Green Cars Motivates Manufacturers
With the sales of gas guzzling SUV falling in the U.S. motor manufacturers are increasing their efforts to find a practical and appealing green alternative.
Motor manufacturers are competing to be the first to produce an affordable mass-market green car. The Toyota Prius, which uses hybrid electric and petrol power, has already been an enormous success with around 1 million vehicles already sold. Toyota estimates that these have already saved a massive 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. It’s also interesting to note that the demand for these cars is so high that they will actually increase in value during the first year of ownership.
Honda has released their first Hydrogen powered commercial vehicle but many manufacturers believe that the future is electric, or a hydrogen-electric hybrid. General Motors have stated that they believe the future is the electrification of the motor vehicle.
One of the criticisms of electric vehicles has been their performance. They are considered by many to be low speed, short range vehicles, limited by the capacity of their batteries. This is all set to change as ever more efficient battery technology is developed.
The latest generation of Li-ion (lithium ion) batteries have been used to power the impressive Tesla Roadster sports car. A totally electric car with a top speed of around 210km/h (130mph) and the ability to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in around 4 seconds.
The big downside, at present, is the price. The Tesla Roadster will currently cost you around $109,000 dollars, if you can get one. Even at this price there is a waiting list.
Its clear that consumers are demanding greener vehicles and with these improvements in electric car technology it’s looking increasingly like they are likely to be electric.
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Written by Hybrid on September 29th, 2008 with
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