[Travel] What Is The Most Environmentally Friendly Vehicle?

[Seagull]

We want to change our 10 year old petrol car for something more environentally friendly. I do realise the most environmentally friendly thing would be not to own a car at all and where I live in London I do mainly cycle. I share the car with my wife and to see our families family in rural Sussex and Essex it's so much easier to drive. We only do about 5,000 miles per year.

I am not sure electric is the answer - what about the environmental impact and rare materials mined for electric batteries? Where does the electricity get generated? Is it renewable? However the carbon emissions from fossil fuel powered vehicles probably make them worse. It's confusing; I don't know much about cars apart from how to drive one!

Anyone know anything or where to start finding information? My biggest concerns are low impact on the environment and reliability. Cheers for any wisdom out there.

 

[zefarelly]

Mk1 Ford Cortina.

 

[beorhthelm]

overall its probably your 10 yr car, unless its low MPG.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBED8E-zq1c

 

[schmunk]

Shanks' Pony.

 

[OzMike]

The horse, comfortable and economical, exhaust products can assist in the manufacturing of the fuel required for it.
Low impact on the environment and nice to pat now and again.

 

[albionfan37]

https://images.app.goo.gl/8xHQerB7yA1YLZhy7

The only way to travel

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Given you do so little mileage hve thought of joining a car club instead of owning a car yourself ?

 

[Chicken Run]

Mk1 Ford Cortina.

My first car was the Mk2 Cortina, granted not as economical as the 1 but I upgraded to head rests. Iirc went well on 3 star.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Given you do so little mileage hve thought of joining a car club instead of owning a car yourself ?

Always assumed that was an expensive way of travailing.

 

[studio150]

Get Scotty to beam you up

 

[zefarelly]

Whether a car is economic or not is so much more than fuel cost (or energy) It's a really difficult one to not only quantify, but pick what's best suited to your individual requirements.

We currently have 2 cars, not doing much, Mrs Zef gets the train to work and has a shiny Alfa doing nothing. I have an old Subaru estate (posh van effectively) which isn't really doing much at all these days either, but I do need something that will tow and shift big heavy things from time to time.

For high days and holidays we are use a classic. . . . .

If I was doing 5000 miles a year and just general use I still think a small petrol hatchback is the most economic all rounder. Something 3ish years old with circa 50k miles is still nigh on 'new' virtually free of depreciation, and should be economic to keep/run.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Bicycle.

 

[zefarelly]

Bicycle.

but many of them are more expensive than a decent car . . .and you'll need lycra, a skid lid and lots of food to sustain you . . . arguably less economic.

 

[Bob!]

Bike and public transport when in London.
Hire a car for trips to Sussex and Essex.

 

[zefarelly]

Bike and public transport when in London.
Hire a car for trips to Sussex and Essex.

guitarist in our band moved back to Laaandan, gave up driving . . . . uses PT and cycles . . . . trouble is, when he steps away from a main line he becomes a burden on the rest of us . . . .may be a good thing for him, but a ****ing pain in the arse for everyone else. Selfish.

hiring a car is a good solution, and not prohibitively expensive.

 

[Brovion]

The horse, comfortable and economical, exhaust products can assist in the manufacturing of the fuel required for it.
Low impact on the environment and nice to pat now and again.

Yeah, definitely a horse. Plus when the time comes to scrap it you can make burgers out of it. Try doing that with a Prius.

 

[zefarelly]

A horse . . . .for one person, is extremely uneconomical.

probably the same amount of glues in a prius as a horse.

 

[Pudos]

London? Range Rover - not sure about the eco bit but there must be a reason a fair few people living there can't be without them.

 

[Dave the OAP]

A horse . . . .for one person, is extremely uneconomical.

probably the same amount of glues in a prius as a horse.

And every time it farts, a star dies!