Is the Future Green?
Posted by DavidM in Buying green, Driving, Electricity, Transport | 5 February 2011
The automotive industry is in crisis. Fuel prices are escalating at an apparently uncontrollable rate and insurance costs seem to be rising in sympathy. A recent survey by Money Supermarket revealed that 62% of motorists had been forced into reducing the amount of time they spend behind the wheel on the back of these price increases, with 5% of this survey sample admitting that they had been forced into giving up motoring altogether. This demonstrates that a solution is needed quickly, but is there anything that can be done?
Green cars
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that fossil fuel supplies will begin to go into decline at some point in 2011. At this point fuel prices will rocket and result in even more motorists being forced to abandon driving. This will not only affect the way people live their lives but also potential put many companies out of business.
In the past green vehicles have not be a viable option for the majority of motorists due to their high costs and impractical nature, but all of this is about to change with Nissan set to introduce its new Leaf model in February. The Leaf will be the first mass produced all electric vehicle designed by a major manufacturer to hit the market and is expected to result in a significant leap in the number of environmental cars on the road. This is due to the increased practicality of the vehicle which is capable of a top speed of 92mph but can still do over 100 miles on one charge. The appearance and space available in the car are also unaffected by the requirement to carry lithium ion batteries, with the Leaf having enough room for five people and not looking too much different from any other hatchback.
Nissan has also been careful to address the cost issue, using an “aggressive pricing strategy” which has ensured a basic selling price of £28,350. Following government incentives this price will be reduced to just £23,350 for British customers, with similar incentive programmes being introduced by governments across Europe and America. It can be viewed that the £8,000 price difference between the Leaf and Ford’s very attractive new Focus model is unjustified. However, when it is considered that owning a Leaf would have shaved £1,200 off the average motorist’s fuel bill last year (before tax and insurance savings), the price difference doesn’t seem so significant. This annual saving is inevitably going to escalate as fuel prices increase.
The downside
However, not everything is looking bright on the green car horizon. There can be no doubt that car manufacturers are making huge strides in improving the performance of their environmental vehicles while simultaneously reducing their base cost. However, it appears that governments have not been quite as proactive in anticipating the impending green car revolution. This has led to many countries, including the UK and America, being woefully unprepared for the mass adoption of electric vehicles. The 100 mile range of the Leaf with its 30 minute quick charge function is almost acceptable so long as there is somewhere to charge it up. However, this vision has not yet been realised which will undoubtedly harm adoption rates of green vehicles.
The British and American governments have both pledged a budget to aid in the building up of the electric car infrastructure with the aim being to have electric charging points in all populated areas by 2015. However, by this time Nissan will have introduced the second edition of the Leaf which is expected to have at least a 200 mile range. When it is consider how much the likely price of fuel will be by this time it would appear to be a no brainer when faced with a choice between the Leaf and petrol fuelled Ford Focus. Let’s just hope that Nissan doesn’t lose faith with the concept if the initial uptake of the first Leaf is hampered by government inadequacies.
Article source: Moneysupermarket.com
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