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Low emission transportation

February 14, 2008 @ 11:49 By Gavin Webber 3 Comments


I had been looking for a replacement car for my petrol guzzling 1997 Toyota Camry for about 6 months before my epiphany. I hadn’t talked much about it to my wife Kim, but I now begun to think about the possibilities of low emission vehicles.

I had only just watched “An Inconvenient Truth” a few days before hand and noticed that at the end of the movie it mentioned something about hybrid cars. No knowing much about this type of technology, I did what all good technologists do and “Googled” the word hybrid car for Australia only. I was disappointed to find that only two car companies distributed Hybrids in Australia and none of them manufactured in Australia. At the time, only the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid were available on the market. You would think that Australia would be at the forefront of this technology, but I soon realised that we are just puppets of the U.S. vehicle giants GM and Ford.

After studying both models specifications and the price tags for both, I was swayed towards the Honda Civic Hybrid because of both looks, low emissions, and price. Now I had to sell the idea to Kim! We had an evening of deep discussion, and her main concern was the vehicles performance compared to other cars on the road. We hit the net, and looked for car reviews about the Civic and found a range of extremes, with a few good and one bad review. I believe that she was a bit taken aback by my sudden urge to buy this car, but then she hadn’t seen the movie, and didn’t know what I knew. I don’t blame her, and I must have looked like a real nut case at the time.

We came to an agreement that we did need a new car and that the Civic was a good as any, but that we had to take a test drive first and then both agree that it was OK. I booked it for the very next weekend at the Werribee Honda dealership. The next few days wait was painful, but the weekend arrived and off we headed to Werribee for our exciting day.

When we arrived we were shown the vehicle, and it was an appealing style and exactly the same as the normal Civic (Kim liked it straight away). Only the drive train was different. The dealer was more than happy to point out all of the aesthetic features of the car, however, when I asked him how the engine worked to reduce emissions, I could tell he did not know, and he tried to fumble his way through an explanation. Click here to get a real explanation of how the car really works! It just goes to show that the technology was new to him, however that does not excuse Honda for a lack of dealership training, especially if their role is to sell their cars!

Anyway, the test drive as wonderful and the car performed above my expectations. I noticed the Auto Sop feature whereby the engine automatically turns off when you are in Drive and come to a stop. A bit daunting at first, but you get used to it quickly. I began to smile as I realised that I was not creating any Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) when stopped at the lights! You also soon learn about the electric motor assist when driving. The 1.3 litre internal combustion engine really feels like a 2 litre when accelerating as the electric motor helps when necessary. The batteries are Nickel Metal Hydrate, and are charged by using the wasted power of braking or deceleration. The other eco feature is that the car is entirely driven by the electric motor whilst cruising steadily between 30-50 kph. All with the fuel economy of 4.6 litres per 100 km.

After returning from the relatively short test drive, both Kim and I knew it was the car for us, so the very next morning I ordered a nice alabaster silver model through my employers novated leasing company. The leasing company called me late the same afternoon, and informed me that I could take delivery in three weeks! Fantastic, much better than the 6 month wait the dealer had hinted at. What a slow 3 weeks that was!

I took delivery of our new car on the 24th of October 2006, and it has run very well to date. Our average fuel consumption is 5.6 litres per 100 km, which is a little above the 4.6 as advertised in the Honda media. Still it is far better than most other petrol guzzling cars around me. Honda also has a great programme whereby they purchase offsets on your behalf to neutralize the vehicles remaining emissions for the first 3 years of the cars life. This is via Greenfleet. I hope it is not green wash and that they really do it.

On looking back 17 months later, I see that a car for me is a necessary evil, as I live 50 km from my workplace. Public transport is unreliable out here in Melton.
I wish I could ride my bike to work and instead of low emission, I could be NO emission except for the sweat of my brow!

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Related

Filed Under: bicycle, Honda Civic, Hybrid, low emission vehicle

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Elaine says

    September 7, 2008 at 13:24

    Hi Gavin,
    Just found your blog and am thoroughly enjoying it. About your long commute…I’m in Toronto and also live 50km from work so I cycle 5km to a bus which takes me the rest of the way. Or, you could consider doing what a friend of mine does…drive part of the way and cycle the rest. We also try to do all our errands by bike and are loving it. Sure beats paying for gas and a gym membership!

    Reply
  2. Gavin says

    September 7, 2008 at 21:15

    Thanks Elaine, glad you are enjoying it. Since I wrote that post, I now only catch public transport to work, when I do have to travel into the office. My daughter, who now has her drivers licence, drives to Ballarat for University.

    I walk the 700m to the bus stop, that then takes me the 5km to the station and then the train takes me the rest of the way to Melbourne and back again at the end of the day, all for $10.10. It is now actually a quicker trip than driving, because of the traffic congestion on the roads. I am trying to get my fitness back up after my back injury, so that I can get back on the bike again. It will happen soon enough, and I too will be able to do errands into our town on the bike!

    Gav

    Reply
  3. Karl says

    January 6, 2012 at 23:19

    Hi Gavin, I know this article was written in 2008 but you’ll be glad to know that the Toyota Camry hybrid is now made in Australia (Altona to be precise).
    However the Holden Cruze (diesel manual)uses less fuel than the Camry, but being a diesel, it’s emissions maybe dirtier.

    However considering you don’t do too many kilometres, buying a used car may have been a greener choice.
    I read an article that suggested that a vehicles emissions during manufacture are equivalent to 5-6 years of average driving. Another article about researches in Europe said that the optimal time to exchange your vehicle was every 19 years (on average), because this is when improved efficiencies in new vehicles offset the manufacture of the new vehicle. However that study may have assumptions that aren’t relevant to Australia and I can’t remember my source. The average vehicle on Australian roads is just under 10 years old.
    I hope I didn’t put a sour taste on the article, just trying to ad another dimension.
    Oh, and I drive a Commodore on LPG personally (just for reference! lol).

    Reply

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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