Drivers pleased with 'green' car

Peter Woodman

May 08, 2008

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The new Toyota Prius

THE hybrid electric Toyota Prius not only makes environmentalists happy - but drivers too.

Already hailed as being a `green' car, the vehicle has also topped a major customer satisfaction survey unveiled today.

The ultra-low emission Toyota scored 901 points out of a possible 1,000 in a survey by JD Power and Associates and What Car? magazine. It involved more than 16,000 car owners who had been running their vehicles for an average of two years.

A total of 100 models were assessed for four measures of ownership satisfaction - quality and reliability, vehicle appeal, dealer service satisfaction and running costs.

After the Prius, the next highest mark went to the Honda Jazz, with the Lexus IS scoring third place.

The top overall manufacturer - as opposed to the top individual model of vehicle - was Lexus, with Skoda running in second, Honda third and Toyota fourth.

Limping in at the bottom of the list were Fiat, Mitsubishi and Chevrolet.

What Car? editor Steve Fowler said: "The Prius already has iconic status because of its green credentials; now it's demonstrating that it's also the watchword for reliability and satisfaction.

"It delivers on many of the points that matter most to car buyers today: it's environmentally friendly and reasonably frugal, yet it's also reliable and a great car to own."

Martin Volk, senior research manager at JD Power, said: "Honda distinguishes itself by garnering the greatest number of segment awards in the 2008 study and also by placing models among the top three nameplates.

"While Lexus maintains its position as the top-ranked nameplate, two non-premium nameplates - Skoda and Honda, are also placed among the top three.

"This is a testament to the continued efforts of these car makers to provide an excellent vehicle ownership experience."

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Pete in Salford, Salford (08/05/2008 at 17:41)

This car is NOT green. its a status symbol which is actually worse for the enviroment than most family hatchbacks. The batteries it depends on are full of noxious chemicals and metals, which the manufacturing of involves shipping the materials (from an open cast mine) the length of america and back again (how much CO2 does that produce I wonder?). The Sunday Times did a test which shows when using them on jouneys outside the city, they do worse MPG than a great big BMW 5 Series Diesel. We need to look at the whole life cycle of the car, and because of those batteries its total enviromental impact has been calculated to be worse than a 4x4 Jeep. The focus should be on lighter cars that last longer!

antipsari (08/05/2008 at 19:50)

People like Pete in Salford will never be satisfied or see the good side of anything new.
I lived in the sixties as a child in Salford inhaling smoke and smog from thousands of coal burning homes. People complained when they were forced to use less polluting fuels but within a few years the amount of filth in the air was greatly reduced.
Small steps like the Prius should be applauded so other car companies will compete and eventually produce the "green" results we all need.

Mr Angry, Bury (09/05/2008 at 11:04)

Pete,

My Cortina is 27 years old, does that make it green?

ace, manchester (09/05/2008 at 11:36)

Why are we not investing free energy like surge tech.or EBM energy .they have been producing free electricity for ages and its pollution free.once you get the generator up to speed it generates its own power? And theve put it in a car .google these technologies...

Pete in Salford, Salford (09/05/2008 at 15:44)

Antipsari, I'm not against new technology, certainly not when it benefits the enviroment and the air we breathe, unfortunatley the Prius doesn't. Its huge, heavy batteries (that normal cars don't have) are full on nasty metals which are bad for the enviroment. These metals such as Nickel and Cadmium are from big open cast mines, mining is a process that in its self generates a lots of CO2 and dust. Not to metion the potential pollution when these batteries reach the end of their not-very-long lives. When the Prius is not running on just its batteries (the minute you take it out of the city centre) it's as dirty as any other car, except its lugging 1/2 ton of batteries too. Mr Angry, most of the pollution and energy created by cars is in their manufacture,not their use. Your Cortina probably has less plastics (made from OIL!!)and less hazardous materials/metals (found in the electronics and catalytic converters) so is probably easier to recycle too, not to mention being lighter than a modern car of the same size. The exhuast fumes aren't as clean, but no where near as bad as enviromental impact of buying new.

ace, manchester (09/05/2008 at 18:23)

Mr Angry, Bury
No think the most common colour will be brown (rust) hehehe

S P In exile, Tameside (10/05/2008 at 01:50)

What is the point of a car that is green? Yes great for the environment!
Good because you are doing your bit to save the planet etc.
But the governments of the world don’t want this to happen, yes it is happening and should be happening faster It is all happening in dribs and drabs if the governments of the world were really concerned how the planet is slowly being killed by man then more would be done and more quickly than is happening now.

Governments want everyone to be reliant on oil it is in their interest and the one thing that can guarantee to bring in big revenues, oil is the worlds life blood, no oil, no world economies. If oil in ten years was to run out then governments around the world would then push for green efficient technology and billions would be invested in research. As things stand they don’t have to pump money into new research they can tax Joe public at will in the name of the environment, it’s an excuse they will use time and again.

Oil companies making record billions unheard of in the past they say they are not making the record billions through petrol it is because of research and development. Tell me what have they developed? I see nothing new coming from the petrol companies, the last thing these petrol companies want is an electric vehicle it’s not in their interest.

I am happy we are making progress by way of this technology but it should be happening faster, but I’m afraid it isn’t viable at this rate.

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