Trend for green cars 'will undoubtedly continue'

Date: 22/6/2011

The popularity of green cars will "undoubtedly" continue as the cost of fuel rises.

Such is the opinion of Dr Ben Lane, Managing Editor at nextgreencar.com, who says since 2009 there has been evidence that as the price of petrol goes up, so too does interest in fuel-efficient vehicles.

He adds that there has been a shift towards city cars of a smaller size and those motors powered by diesel during this time.

However, he states that demand is currently outstripping supply and that while customers may be keen to invest, more could be done to market these vehicles - particularly in terms of the benefits to the planet.

"The advantages [are] of CO2 coming down - I think that's one thing that manufacturers could do, they could perhaps underline the link between fuel efficiency and the environmental impact," Dr Lane notes.

Elsewhere, the European Federation for Transport and Environment has recently called for an alteration to the European Union's approach to regulating car and van emissions.

It claims that a policy of viewing electric vehicles as being zero-carbon could harm competition with other non-fossil fuel motors and that a better methodology is required to assess how much of the power used by electric cars comes from renewable sources.

Dutch consultancy CE Delft carried out the research that led to the Federation's suggestions.

Posted by Nick Anderson