Buying 'greener' could save car buyers £375 in fuel alone - EST report
Wed 23 July 2008
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Buying the 'greenest' vehicle in its class could save the average motorist up to £375 a year in fuel costs alone according to a new report by the Energy Saving Trust. The report,'Driven', says, however, that 74% of UK drivers are not aware of their car's carbon dioxide emissions.
The report - 'Driven' - also finds that a 15% saving on running costs is possible through "smarter driving" techniques amounting to nearly £6bn in cost savings per year in fuel costs for all motorists.
The report also points out that there are additional savings possible through road tax (VED), parking and Congestion Charge reductions, which can also be financially significant for drivers.
The EST's research into car buyer attitudes revealed:
- Fifty per cent say they would drive more efficiently if they had more information as to how it would save money and carbon dioxide emissions. - More than half (51 per cent) of those shown a list of popular cars had no idea which was greenest.
- When looking at car advertisements and asked what grabs their attention, fuel efficiency came third (18 per cent), behind style and look (23 per cent), and price (24 per cent).
- More than half (51 per cent) say they take the car to travel distances of less than one mile, with this figure rising to seven in ten (71 per cent) for a journey of fewer than one-and-a-half miles. And almost two thirds (63 per cent) say bad weather was a reason for taking the car rather than walking a short distance.
The Energy Saving Trust has recently started to provide consumer transport advice through its network of advice centres; helping consumers to purchase lower-carbon vehicles and to drive their cars more efficiently.
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