- Feb 6, 2007
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Conventional petrol and diesel cars are beginning to outpace Toyota’s Prius on environmental friendliness claims a new study carried out by researchers at Cardiff University along with Clifford Thames, an automotive consultancy.
The iconic hybrid car is still the cleanest for its size, but is outranked by nine smaller models from Peugeot, Citroën, Ford, Smart and other manufacturers in a new environmental rating system.
The researchers also studied cars due to launch shortly, and claim that petrol and diesel cars with new emissions-cutting technology will soon outpace the Prius on a size-for-size basis. They also say that conventional technology will overtake the Prius over the next 12 to 18 months, and consumers won’t have to pay a premium for it.
The research, based on publicly available data, points to the huge improvements manufacturers – under pressure from regulators to reduce emissions – are making on non-hybrid cars with diesel or petrol engines.
Rather than focusing on tailpipe emissions only, the ranking also takes into account cars’ overall environmental 'footprint' – including raw materials, production, and end-of-life costs – based on their length, width and weight.
Though the Prius is the best-selling hybrid in the world, and still one of the lowest-emission cars on the road, it's also larger and somewhat heavier than many rival low-emission vehicles because of its large battery and transmission.
Source:
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