Green Envy

Carbon free commuting is still very much a work in progress, but the world’s biggest car manufacturers are still finding ways to satisfy both customers and politicians. Sky Motoring picks five of the greenest cars due on sale and investigates five alternative fuel cars for the future.

Today

Fiat
The Panda Aria is a hatchback that runs on a 70/30 split mix of methane and hydrogen to produce just 69g/km of CO2. It uses Fiat’s new 80bhp, 900cc two-cylinder turbo engine which is equipped with stop-start technology which cuts the engine when the car is stationary to save expelling fuel and emissions. The dual-fuel aspect may not be with us until 2009 says Fiat, but the compact, clean and efficient engine will go on sale in the Panda, Punto and 500 next year.

Ford ECOnetic
The blue oval isn’t offering so much a new car but an entirely new range of environmentally friendly vehicles. Specially branded as ECOnetic, the first models go on sale later this year, including most significantly, the new Focus. Britain’s biggest-selling hatchback is getting a mid-life re-fresh to coincide with this new model, including a Mondeo-esque trapezoidal grille and a more stylish centre console.

The ECOnetic Focus will use a conventional 109-horsepower diesel engine but low-friction gearbox oil, revised gear ratios, reduced ride height, new tires, aerodynamic tweaks and a power steering system that requires less power should improve range massively and help this Focus emit just 115 g/km of CO2.


 
Kia
Korean car-maker Kia also released an environmentally friendlier version of its three-door hatchback, the cee’d. The eco_cee’d, uses an 113bhp 1.6-litre diesel unit and benefits from stop-start technology, revised gearing and regenerative braking.  It has a combined fuel consumption figure of 62mpg and emits 104g/km.

Seat Ibiza Ecomotive
Volkswagen’s sportier sibling SEAT isn’t exactly an arbiter of the green agenda, yet that hasn’t stopped the Spanish car-maker from producing the Ibiza Ecomotive. Looks like any other Ibiza hatchback doesn’t it? Well yes, except this one uses the same super-efficient 1.4-litre diesel that features in the Polo Bluemotion, emitting just 99g/km of carbon dioxide - that’s 7g/km less than Toyota’s petrol-electric Prius. With the help of ‘reduced friction’ – i.e. narrower - tyres, longer gearing and a more aerodynamic body, it can achieve an average of  74.3mpg. But more importantly, when SEAT’s cleanest ever car goes on sale early next year, it will sit in VED Band category ‘A’ making it tax-exempt.

Volvo ReCharge
Volvo released two environmentally friendly versions of its C30 hatchback. The ReCharge looked at the C30 in another ten years time, by attaching inbound lithium ion electric motors to each wheel. It’s a great concept that we hope will happen in time, but the Swedish car maker’s other model, known as the C30 Efficiency is much more realistic. It uses a tweaked 1.6-litre diesel engine and is fitted with new aerodynamic panels to return 58mpg and bring carbon dioxide emissions under the proposed 120g/km threshold.