The car … or not

We can buy cars that are moving towards sustainability:

• The Hybrid Toyota Prius and Honda Civic use an electric and petrol engine combination to achieve fuel efficiency of 4.5 L/100Km
• Many smaller, efficient cars are on the market with fuel efficiency of 6L/100km.
• The Mitsubishi MIEV electric car will be the first on the market in 2010.
• For a premium we can buy an electric car from Castlemaine.
• Check out the Green Vehicle Guide link to the right for environmental comparisons of all cars sold in Australia.

• Regularly tune and check tyre pressure
• Leave the car at home when the trip is less than 2kms
• Minimise the weight the car is carrying
• Cruise at 100, rather than 110 for greater fuel efficiency
  
• A smooth acceleration at take off minimises fuel use

The Future of the Car ...

Personal transport will always remain a part of the mix. The internal combustion engine however, has a limited lifespan. The major car manufacturers are in trouble because the world has left them behind: we are not buying large polluting cars and in the future they will be placed in museums, marked "crazy."

Most of the major car manufacturers will have electric cars on the market by 2012 and battery technology is developing super fast. Scientists are working on super fast charging batteries, organic batteries and large scale renewable energy projects for powering the batteries.  The petrol station will soon be the electric battery charging station.

Major dollars are also being invested in hydrogen fueled cars, whose tail emissions are water vapour. This technology could end up powering our cars and homes in a unit the size of a hot water system: it is a way off yet.