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Ecological cars to cure 'commuter guilt'

Know the feeling? You're stuck in traffic on the way to the hairdresser's. The kids are in school. You saw the hubby off as he took his car to the office in the morning. The shopping got done yesterday, thankfully, along with hauling the old winter clothes to the thrift shop. And now as you sit all by yourself in that cavernous SUV with the motor running, it dawns on you how costly the beast is to keep on the road, both in dollars consumed and pollutants expended. Sure, you'd prefer not to do any harm to the environment. But what choice do you have? What family can do without two cars today?
Well, you don't have to give up that second car to assauge that commuter guilt. But as EVER Monaco 2007 showed, you can reduce your contribution to greenhouse gas emmissions by choosing to operate at least one car that's easy on the environment. European car vendors and manufacturers rolled out their sleek options at the showcase for Ecological Vehicles and Renewable Energies March 29 to April 1, winning kudos from Canadian attendees such as Peter Duncan, spokesperson for CEVEQ, the center for experimentation with electric vehicles in Quebec. "The business of building cars for the future with renewable eneargy is way ahead of what it is in Canada," he said




These are cars you never fill up at the gas station. In Europe, it's not just theory. It's been a way of life for many families for years now. For instance thousands of urbanites in Germany, Austria and Scandanavia have opted for the CityEL, a three-wheel German electric car whose energy consumption is equivalent to half a liter of gasoline. It costs US$7,000 to buy and 20 cents per kilometer to run.

On the higher end is the Eclectic by Monaco manufacturer Venturi. Not only does it run on electricity, its roof is made up of solar panels and it also has a wind turbine, to take you through those times when you're not able to plug in to recharge the battery. Like many electric vehicles, it has a maximum speed of 50 kms per hour and it can go for 50 kms before the battery runs out; hence it's intended for use only in the city as you can't exceed that speed limit in any case and you're not likely to be going great distances. This four-wheeler will be on the roads this fall in a limited edition of 200 and has a starting price of US$16,000.

While impressed, Quebec's Duncan thinks the difference in climate and the larger scale of North American cities may make it difficult for the European cars to hit the road on his side of the Atlantic. Other stumbling blocks, said European car makers, many of whom are small operations, are prohibitive North American regulations and costs.

Trust the Japanese to have a solution, and one that's already available on the North American market. At the EVER show, Lexus Monaco put on display the company's hybrid SUV. It has two engines, a petrol engine that kicks in when you're zooming down the highway, and an electric engine that the car automatically selects at lower speeds. The electric battery is also self-charging, so you never have to plug it in. With a hybrid, when you're stuck in traffic on the way to the hairdresser's and your electric motor is running, you can smile and bannish that old commuter guilt.

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Comments to date: 1. Page 1 of 1.

Jane,  USA

Posted at 8:17pm on Saturday, September 8th, 2007

If people will be honest as to whether they really need a second car or whether it's a status symbol, there would be fewer cars on the road.

 




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