Jeep Patriot: The green 4x4?
Posted by DavidM in Driving | 26 January 2008
I've seen a lot of newspaper adverts recently for Jeep proclaiming their green credentials as the Jeep Patriot won the Green 4x4 award from 4x4 and MPV Driver.
Okay so it's easy to think of this as being an award for the least environmentally damaging vehicle amongst a pretty bad bunch but the Patriot is one of a growing number of 4x4's that are much better than the usual X5, Range Rover, Cayenne and so on.
The Patriot 2.0 diesel can do 42.2mpg combined and pumps out 180g of CO2 per kilometre. That's not bad for a 4x4.
It's better than the Landrover Freelander (37.7mpg and 194g/km) and Nissan X-Trail (39.8mpg and 190g/km).
However, the Hona CR-V 2.2 diesel does 43.5mpg and has lower CO2 emissions of 170g/km making it greener than the Patriot.
The main thing with all these is that their fuel and emissions performance is getting better though there is still room for improvement compared to standard cars. For example, the new Ford Mondeo 2.0 diesel - probably one of the biggest selling cars in the UK - manages up to 48.7mpg and has CO2 emissions of 149g/km.
When I get time I'll look at the top selling cars now and five years ago and compare their fuel efficiency and emissions.
There is so much more to do to minimise the impact of cars on the environment but it would be great to be able to show movement in the right direction.
Image: SXC
