Green car prices preventing the green revolution

The cost associated with going green is the biggest obstacle preventing the sale of greener cars, the latest poll from TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk has revealed.

The leading green car guide, asked website visitors; “What would be your main reason not to choose one of the greenest petrol or diesel cars available as your next car?”

Sadly 33 per cent of visitors said that the cost of green cars compared to regular car models was the main obstacle to selecting a green model.

This is no misconception either; TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk looked at some of the most popular ‘green car’ models (the ones with the lowest CO2 emission ratings) and found that many of the greener variants were substantially more expensive than the basic entry level models. In fact, TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk’s research found it could cost you as much as £4, 760 more to buy the green badged variant compared to the basic model. To recoup the additional outlay you would need to drive as much as 198, 690 miles to benefit from the difference in fuel efficiency. That is equivalent to driving round the world eight times!

With many of the carmakers introducing brands to denote and draw attention to their very greenest variants, names such as Ford’s ECOnetic, Volkswagen’s Bluemotion and Volvo’s DRIVe spring to mind, the cost could be a major obstacle to their success.

As the EU has set target for average fleet CO2 emission of 95g/km by 2020, TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk is calling for the government to do more to boost the popularity of the greenest cars, if there is to be any hope of meeting this target.

Editor for TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk, Faye Sunderland comments:” As it stands there is not enough incentive to the consumer to select the greenest variant of a car model; more needs to be done to support the sale of green cars. With a third of our visitors being put off buying a green car due to the cost, it should deeply concern the industry that the market for these cars is being priced out.

“The recently announced £5,000 grant for electric and hybrid cars due in 2011 should instead be applied to any vehicle which meets emission target below 90g/km of CO2, to aide the UK in meeting targets for reducing CO2 and encourage the development of the very most frugal vehicles. This would provide a real stimulus to the uptake of highly efficient cars.”

Sadly many other website visitors stated simply that they could not afford to buy a newer model, (taking 26 per cent of the vote) despite the recent introduction of the scrappage scheme, designed to make new cars more affordable and boost car sales.