Tag Archives: environment

Would you buy an Electric Vehicle?

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electric vehicle NRMA

Would you buy an electric vehicle now or wait?

 

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular – the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is available to selected customers on a lease-only arrangement (ie you can’t buy one outright), and the Nissan Leaf and the Holden Volt are reportedly being released over the next year (the Volt is not a pure EV, as it has a small petrol engine to charge the battery when it gets low, called an Extended Range Electric Vehicle – EREV).

The current and predicted prices for these vehicles are relatively high for their size, around $50,000 or more but we expect that prices should come down over time as demand increases.

The good news is running costs should be low (even with electricity prices increasing) and servicing costs for pure EVs should be less than a conventional vehicle (given the simplicity of an electric motor compared with an internal combustion engine).

Pure EVs also produce no local emissions and if charged by electricity from a renewable resource, would have low environmental impact overall.

NRMA has an i-MiEV in its fleet and found the on-road performance to be satisfactory – the range being 100-120kms between charges.

Would you consider purchasing an EV now or would you wait until price and range were equivalent to conventional vehicles?

* NRMA is hosting a number of Electric Vehicle Roadshows around NSW during July and August.

Diesel – a greener fuel option?

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Since 1 January 2009, diesel fuel has had to meet strict fuel quality standards, now producing a significantly lower amount of sulphur than both ULP and PULP.

National fuel standards

National standards regulating fuels that impact the environment first came into effect in January 2002, brought in to reduce the amount of toxic pollutants in emissions.

Initially, diesel’s sulphur standard was set at 500 parts per million (ppm). As of 1 January 2009, this was reduced to a maximum of 10 ppm.

How does this compare?

From 1 January 2005, the maximum amount of sulphur ULP (91.0 RON) could contain was set at 150 ppm.

Since 1 January 2008, PULP’s (95.0 RON) maximum sulphur is 50 ppm.

Is it time diesel lost its ‘dirty’ reputation?

New generation turbo-diesels have particulate filters which further reduce the amount of particulate (soot) produced in the vehicle’s emissions. On top of that, these new generation diesels are proven to go further on less. For instance, BMW’s new diesel powered 1-series, on sale now, returns less than 5 litres per 100km and emits just 126g of CO2 per kilometer.

The first diesel-fuelled Subaru to be offered in Australia, the Subaru Outback, will be on sale in November this year, and diesel models of the 2010 Mazda CX-7, 2011 Ford Territory and Peugeot’s new 407 are all on the way. It is clear that more and more new car models are being offered with ‘clean’ diesel alternatives.

Coupled with the particulate filter and the new, stringent sulphur emission standards, diesel might just be a viable, greener fuel alternative.

Does diesel still have a ‘dirty’ reputation? Have you thought of diesel as a greener fuel option?

For the full list of diesel quality standards, visit The Federal Government’s Environment website.

Ethanol in petrol

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Over the past four years ethanol has been making its way to our fuel distributors, being sold as E10. It is a colourless alcohol, the same as in alcoholic drinks and is manufactured from grain or sugar. The CSIRO has calculated that an E10 blend cuts overall greenhouse emissions by around 3 per cent. However it’s more costly than petrol to produce and requires special storage facilities. Testing shows that fuel consumption increases by 3-4 per cent when using an E10 blend.

10 per cent ethanol mixed with petrol should not affect the majority of vehicles on our roads. The motor industry’s website advises which cars can use E10, E5 or no ethanol at all. All vehicles manufactured before 1986 are recommended not to use ethanol.

Ethanol is currently rebated at the normal fuel excise, but the rebate will be phased out over 5 years from 2011*, by which time the industry is expected to have reduced the costs of production.

*please note: straight unleaded 91 octane petrol will now be phased out in NSW by 1 July 2012.  Vehicles not able to use ethanol will then use premium 95 octane petrol.

What’s your experience with E10? Is your car cheaper to run overall and has E10 had any effect – good or not so good – on your car’s performance or reliability?

The benefits of car pooling

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It may sound like a thing of the past, but car pooling is a great way of saving money, meeting neighbours and colleagues, and helping the environment.

Our energy consumption

Transport accounts for 41 per cent of Australia’s energy consumption and is responsible for 14 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Within this, cars and light vehicles account for 79 per cent of transport fuel consumption and are responsible for 80 per cent of the segment’s GHG emissions.

Transport energy demand is forecast to grow at about 2.3 per cent p.a., implying an increase in demand of 50 per cent to 2020 (ABARE 2001).

Road transport is currently serviced by petroleum-based fuels. Passenger vehicles account for 65 per cent of the energy demand in this segment (35 per cent freight). Road freight, which is fuelled mainly by diesel, is forecast to grow the fastest at 2.9 per cent p.a. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles accounts for 20 per cent of energy demand. There is currently limited activity with compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen and ethanol.

The price of ever-increasing fuel, tolls and the need for an extra vehicle makes trying to stretch your budget seem impossible.

Why not share?

Bearing all of this in mind, have you ever thought about car pooling?

It is a cost effective way of getting to work and a great way of minimising your impact on the environment.

Other benefits of car pooling:

  • T2 lanes will be available to you
  • Meeting colleagues and neighbours you otherwise might not have
  • Your trip to and from work will be broken up by giving you someone to talk to
  • The safety factor if you work late at night

There are car pooling services on the internet such as TheCarPool.com.au which will help you search for car pooling partners in your areas, help you calculate your savings and teach you about car pooling etiquette.

There are, of course, risks involved. The person you are car pooling with may have to leave earlier than usual or work back some days, leaving you to make alternative arrangements at the last-minute, you might have a falling out with one of your ever-late workmates, or maybe you’ll get trapped in a car with someone you discovered you didn’t really get along with. But car pooling has the potential to make commuting to and from work fun.

To be effective your company needs to support the idea, but you may be surprised – there are many ways they could help out. They’ll also find there are a few extra parking spaces.

Tell us about you car pooling experiences.