What Makes a Car Green?

by Abigail Knowles Wolfe (BPRW)

We all have a pretty awareness of the reasons walking is good for our health and driving excessively is bad for the environment yet where is the happy medium between the two in our busy personal lives, especially for those of us living far from cities with dependable public transportation systems? For many African Americans, commuting and spending a great deal of time in the car is a way of life and as such one’s car should reflect an appropriate amount of style, expressing the driver’s personality while simultaneously taking them from point A to point B in comfort and reliability.

New lines of hybrid vehicles, often referred to as “green” automobiles have presented the American public with a wide new world of environmentally friend models that save beaucoup bucks at the gas pump. From full size SUV’s to large and small sedans, hybrid vehicles run the gambit from sturdy family vehicles that seat 8 to luxury sedans boasting 430 horsepower and 0-60 MPH in 5.2 seconds.

Hybrid vehicles have actually been around a surprisingly long time and have been to this date utilized in a surprising variety of venues and in transportation modes ranging from city busses to mo-peds. Yet, this duel gasoline and electrical system is just now becoming the norm for car manufacturers across the world. Hybrid cars are not only extremely fuel efficient compared to their counterparts, they are also easier on the environment i.e. they are able to go further on a gallon of gas and emit fewer pollutants in around-town use because under certain circumstances they run on battery power and consume less fuel. While there are a great deal of factors to weigh in purchasing a hybrid vehicle, considering a vehicles gas mileage and affect on the environment should be a primary concern for all.