How To Buy A Greener Car: 5 Tips

Wondering how to buy a greener car? We have five easy tips to get you started

By Nick Miles

It is great to see that all car manufacturers are now focusing their efforts on eco-friendly vehicles. But the truth is, not all of us can afford a vegan-friendly Tesla. However, you should know that this doesn’t mean that you can’t buy a greener car.

There are few easy tips to take on board that can make a serious difference to the sustainability of whichever vehicle you buy.

Here below, we have five tips on how to buy a greener car. Some of these may surprise you!

How To Buy A Greener Car: 5 Tips

how to buy a greener car

1. Choose A Manual Vehicle

The first piece of advice that we have for you is to choose a manual vehicle. Whether you’re looking for Vauxhall or Dacia cars, you should consider going for a manual car.

If you don’t drive manual, why not set yourself the challenge of learning to? When it comes to fuel economy, manual vehicles are more efficient, and this is why they are a recommended choice.

In addition to this, they also demand fewer changes in terms of fluid and they hold a lower amount of it as well. Lastly, and maybe best of all, the insurance on a manual car is usually less expensive than on an automatic.

2. Play It Easy On The Extras

Lots of extra features may mean that your car is more luxurious. However, with every extra you add, make sure you are always considering this: extra stuff means more environmental impact.

It especially makes sense to stay away from things like mounted weather shields, insect deflectors, and roof racks. Avoiding these extras will improve fuel economy.

3. Choose A White Car

You may be shocked to learn that the colour of your vehicle actually makes a big difference with regards to the energy it uses. If you pick a white vehicle, your air conditioning system is going to need to do less work.

On a day when the sun is shining and the atmosphere is warm, the interior of a black vehicle can be as much as 10 degrees hotter in comparison to an identical white vehicle. This means that you’re not going to need the A/C as much – which makes a big difference.

4. Look For A Car Made To Last

When looking for an eco-friendly vehicle, choose something that has been constructed to last. You should take your time to do your research so that you can make sure the car delivers reliability and is built to last. You can read reviews from auto experts, ask car sales people for their advice, as well as taking the time to read feedback and comments that have been left by past customers as well.

5. Know Electric Doesn’t Mean Greener

There’s a myth that electric cars are greener. The fact is, they aren’t. While there’s no space to get into that in detail here, you can click this link to learn more about why.

Know this: car manufacturers can use a number of new technologies to make petrol-run cars more efficient without resorting to battery technology.

These include:

  • guidance mechanisms for more efficient gear changing
  • automatic gearing that makes the best use of gear ratio
  • engine-off mechanism that turns off the engine when the car stops at lights
  • braking systems that feed energy back into the car battery
  • low profile tyres to make rolling resistance more efficient
  • lighter body weight meaning better fuel efficiency
  • engines that are more efficient and use lighter materials.

Examples of car models that use these technologies include the Mazda SkyActiv and VW BlueMotion.

To sum up, there are a few different things that you can do to make sure that your vehicle is as eco-friendly as possible. From going for a manual car to picking a white vehicle, a lot of people don’t realise that there are small changes that actually make a massive difference when it comes down to how to buy a greener car.

Diane Small
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