Cars of the future – hydrogen vs hybrid
Guest Post By Moneysupermarket.com
With the oil-fields close to drying-up and the polar ice caps on the verge of meltdown (or not, depending on which side of the fence you are sitting) it would appear that the world needs a very different type of car for the future.
As far as many motoring pundits are concerned, the hydrogen-fuelled car will be that car. Models such as the Honda Clarity are already in existence, albeit not in world-wide mass-production. The Hydrogen-fuelled car would seem to provide the answer to both the environmental damage we are told is caused by the combustion engine and the imminent lack of oil. In short, cars that run on hydrogen should mean everyone can sleep more easily.
Since the hydrogen power plant emits just water, in theory, you could use it to power all kinds of things. Is this the big environmental silver bullet the world has been waiting for? There is a drawback – well, several in fact. Before eager teenagers start calculating their premiums for young drivers insurance based on a hydrogen powered Saxo, there are a few difficulties to consider. It is actually a very difficult fuel to produce and unlike fossil fuels, there is currently no infrastructure in place to move it around, let alone sell it. Given the current worldwide economic climate, there isn’t likely to be much money to throw at these particular problems in the immediate future.
It could be argued that the hybrid car offers the perfect alternative, given that hydrogen-powered vehicles are still pretty much unattainable. Hybrids like the Prius are already on the roads and even celebrities are driving them to display their green credentials to the world. Critics of the hybrid will point to the high environmental impact of their manufacture and equally worrying impact they have on the planet when it comes to scrapping. All this and at best, they typically return only 45mpg – less than your average 1.4 petrol Peugeot 207!
It would therefore appear that for the time being, there won’t be a hydrogen box for the teenagers to tick when looking for their young drivers insurance. There may be a hybrid box, but the eco-aware young driver might well hesitate before making this choice. As the Toyota Prius insurance groups start off at group 6 and increase to group 7, depending on the model, this would put it out of reach of many young drivers insurance budgets.
In the short term, there is quite a lot that everyone can do to help the planet whilst we wait for the car of the future to arrive. By planning your car trips in advance, you can combine outings to avoid unnecessary trips and allow yourself more time. Driving with your car’s fuel economy in mind has also been shown to increase the total distance you are able to travel on every tank of fuel.
Avoiding aggressive driving will save you fuel and also help you avoid points on your licence. Speeding, accelerating quickly and harsh braking can increase a car’s fuel consumption by close-on 39 per cent. Points and fines also make young drivers insurance far more expensive, as all insurance companies like to reward their most careful drivers.
Allowing your engine to idle for over 10 seconds will use more fuel and produce more CO2 than if you switch off the ignition and re-start when the traffic is moving again. You should also service your vehicle regularly and check the tyre pressures to ensure optimum performance. By removing any unnecessary, heavy items from your car, you will also improve your fuel economy.
Last but not least, when it’s time to change your car, take note of the fuel consumption and emissions rating of the new vehicle you are purchasing. As well as saving you money on fuel and road tax, the smaller engine cars fall into lower insurance groups and are therefore a good deal cheaper to insure, especially when it comes to young drivers insurance.
