Hyundai asks if you have an 'i' for a bargain- the i10 comes with a great deal

In the current financial climate,consumers are going to be wooed even more ardently than previously by car manufacturers with 'special' deals.Hyundai is one such manufacturer,with a range of efficient and low CO2 emitting cars.They are selling on the basis of excellent value.

Take the 5-seater,i10 1.1 litre, for example,which comes with a spec to check. At 119g/km CO2 emissions and 56.5 mph on the combined cycle ,this is an economical city car with so much on it as standard.Air con,electric front windows,power steering,stereo radio+CD player,front and side airbags,and tinted glass are all thrown in.

The i10 competes in its class with the Toyota Aygo ,Fiat Panda and Citroen C1.It saves at £35 on road fund licence,is likely to be exempt from the London congestion charge,and should also be competitive on motor insurance costs.

So if you are a first time car buyer,or looking to downsize because of the tax and CO2 savings the i10 could be just for you.As a further sweetener Hyundai is trying to make it as affordable as possible.For a limited period,until 30th May 2008,the company is offering Personal Contract Purchase (PCP).This arrangement can provide a flexible purchase option,with low,fixed,monthly payments.But you do need to check it out to make sure it suits your specific requirements. In the case of the i10,payments of just under £100 per month are on offer.On the road,this car is from £6,495, according to the Hyundai website where you can see full details about the car and the PCP option, by clicking here

Drive your car like a professional and help reduce climate change

Here is an interesting and fun way to check your driving style and the effect it is having on the environment. The Fiat 'EcoDrive' system,first announced last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, caused a stir at the recent Geneva Car Show.

From this month certain Fiat models,including the 500,will be delivered with the Blue & Me gate enabling through a USB key driving data to be collected.So as you drive away you plug in the USB key. Then when you leave your car you take away the USB key and connect it to your PC. You can then access charts and reports presented in a clear and easily understandable way about your driving,with tips and solutions to improve your performance.

This system helps you achieve the optimum performance for your car which you probably would never get near otherwise. Why is this so? Well, the published consumption and CO2 emission figures are ,for consistency, derived from road tests by professional drivers under 'control' conditions i.e. certain test track road surfaces, with ancillary car equipment switched-off like the heater,radio,air conditioning. In normal conditions, you may travel on rural,urban and motor ways at different times, and in varying weather conditions. There is also your own individual driving style which may throw-in another variable when comparison is made with the manufacturer's published performance for a car.

Fiat collaborated with Microsoft on this piece of technological wizardry,a driving aid which in similar form may be soon common in most new cars.

If you can stand a simple cartoon from 'Franco' and friends which fully explains the 'from car to PC in a USB' EcoDrive system now available in some new Fiat models do Click Here! for a free presentation.

The Citroen C1- Probably the Most Economical Car in the UK?

It's official. The Citroen C1 Diesel has the lowest fuel cost of any conventionally powered car available to buy in the UK today.
At a fuel cost of £736 over 12,000 miles, this makes this thrifty little motor cheaper to run by half than many large family cars.
Who says so? The Department of Transport's Agency, the VCA, that's who, when it announced its latest New Car Fuel Consumption& Emission Figures ahead of last week's Budget.

With just 109 g/km of CO2 emissions,the C1 Diesel offers further good news of money saving. Annual Vehicle Excise Duty is just £35 per annum. For Londoners, the congestion charge could soon be a fat zero with this car if the expected exemption is introduced later this year. This could save a regular driver in the congestion charge area a potential £1,500 a year.

In closing, let me remind you of another in the Citroen family, the C4 1.6 HDi with automatic electronic gearbox,which has a parsimonious fuel spend of just over £800 for 12,000 miles driving.It,too,is in the sub-120 g/km of CO2 club. Enjoy,too, more family space in this 5-door hatchback.

Th!nk big for the environment in this small electric car

I promised you a further little gem from the recent Geneva Motor Show.No,I do not really have an 'only small is good policy' in these pages.There will be plenty of larger and more powerful (but fuel efficient) cars regularly featured on lec.

However, it is good to see another 'green' city runabout coming to market.Later this year, Norwegian carmaker Think, and self-proclaimed 'carmaker of the 2st Century',launches the new fully electric powered Th!nk.It was well received in Geneva.Made for city driving,this is a proper modern urban car,a two-seater with a top speed of 65mph. On just an overnight top-up,the Th!ink's fully charged battery will enable it to go 124 miles in urban driving.Nought to 30 mph acceleration in 6.5 seconds,this car will only set you back about £125 in electricity costs for 10,000 miles of motoring!

It is a truly environmentally-friendly car,emission-free and 95% recyclable.The body is made of a special unpainted ABS plastic which is dent and scratch resistant.The batteries are returned to the supplier at the end of their useful life.

Power steering,central locking,electric heater and mirrors and windows come as standard.Options to add will include air conditioning,pre-heat timer,radio CD with MP3,USB,Bluetooth, and a navigation system, and 2+2 children seats.

I am advised that orders in the UK for the Th!nk will be taken in the last quarter of this year. At £14,000,or thereabouts,it may seem a little pricey compared to other currently available small urban motors with green credentials.But that £125 for its power costs over 10,000 miles is worth checking-out,so,too, is the whole recyclable aspect.

Think is a company now finding its time has come,having struggled to survive in its early days - the company is 17 years old-and the future looks green and profitable.

Another small car tomorrow - probably the most economical in the world currently available -and in following days we'll try to find something a little larger to consider.

Green Car Guide's 10 of the Best Cars

I thought you would like a list of the cars considered at this time to be the best green cars by the Green Car Guide. The cars have been chosen for their environmentally friendly credentials.

The Mini Cooper diesel features in the list. Top slot probably deservedly goes to (you may have guessed) the best selling Toyota Prius (shown above). The list includes:

2 electric cars
2 petrol-electric hybrids
2 cars capable of running on petrol or bio-ethanol
2 petrol cars
and 2 diesels

So which other cars are named in this short list? You can find out by clicking here

Low Emission Cars Galore! At the Green-Car-Guide Live! 2008 Motor Show

This is the big event. Now that running a car has never been potentially so expensive ,it ismore important than ever to look very carefully at the options for greener driving ,before you buy your next car.

It is not only your pocket that may suffer, but the environment is also at grave risk. The sheer and growing volume of vehicles on the roads of the world ,and the pollutants in exhaust gases spewing from those vehicles conventionally powered by petroleum products - oil production is in decline- are significantly contributing to climate change.

At the Green-Car-Guide Live! 2008, you can see the 'metal' up close. And the tickets are

FREE! Get yours today.

You can expect to see the latest range of low carbon vehicles, including city cars through to executive cars and light commercial vehicles. This wide display will interest both businesses
and private motorists.

Please remember that it is a ticket only event, and tickets can only be obtained through the Green-Car-Guide website.

Go to the Green-Car-Guide website for further details of this main event to be held in Liverpool , the 2008 City of Culture. Click here.

Low emission smaller cars with big ideas from Fiat

With an array of models ,which come under the bar set by the Mayor of London of 120g/km of CO2 , Fiat is expressing its determination to lead when it comes to environmentally-friendly cars.

Sub-120 means qualification for the vehicle excise duty (VED) A or B band and a 100% discount from the congestion charge.

No congestion charge then , from 27th October 2008, for drivers of cars which meet the Euro 4 standard for pollution emissions. These include:

• the new Fiat 500 1.2 litre and 1.3 16v ,at 119 and 110 g/km of CO2 respectively
• the Grande Punto 1.3 MultiJet Active and Dynamic 3-and5-door models (119g/km)
• the new mid-size Bravo 1.6 MultiJet 105 with Special Eco-pack (119g/km)
• the Panda 1.3 litre MultiJet Dynamic (114g/km)

Fiats all. Remember,too,you can pay just £35 road tax on anyone of the above cars.Have a look and check-out the manufacturer's details.You can find some further detail at the Green Car Guide website -click here.

More from the Geneva Motor Show very soon.

Copyright (c) 2008 CFM(Services)Limited. All rights reserved.

The i-popping Q from Toyota

Flush with success from its Prius sales,Toyota feel confident that it can very quickly flex its green credentials by turning the tiny,eco-friendly, iQ concept,unveiled just six months ago at the Frankfurt Motor Show, into a production reality ,and put it on sale before the end of this year.

Dubbed the "world's smallest four-seater passenger car", the intelligent iQ can seat three adults and a child . Wider than a Smart,it is less than 3 metres in length.

This car will find its ideal home as an urban runabout. It has a 500cc plug-in powerplant. CO2 emissions will be at 99 g/km scoring a Euro NCAP 5 rating.

Toyota expect to be making 100,000 units of the iQ in its first full year of production.

Of the successful hybrid,the Prius ,a Toyota spokesperson says,"By 2009 we are expecting demand in Europe to more than double to 70,000 units."In 2007, European sales of the Prius were at 32,000 units, up 40% on 2006.

And there's more...Toyota is also working on another plug-in hybrid concept, the 1/X. This is said to be an extremely light car combining plug-in hybrid and flex-fuel technologies.Although a third the weight of the Prius, the 1/X will have the same interior space, and its efficiency will deliver 62 miles for a little over 2 litres of fuel.

Toyota seem to be steaming ahead with their plans to stay in the forefront of the drive to produce more ,and more efficient, cars.



Copyright (c) 2008 CFM(Services)Limited.All rights reserved.

Green Sounds in a Hue of Blue at the Geneva Car Show

At the 78th International Auto Show in Geneva the visitors, 700,000 in total expected during the event upto 16th March,are well into their stride.According to the Geneva Tribune, they " will be overwhelmed by soothing shades of blue." It would seem that green technology,and there is more of it again this year,has been cloaked in a marketing make-over of blue.There are many cars going under names like Blue Motion,Blue Lion and Blue Tech.

Size also matters.A few years ago,very small cars,and particularly electric cars,would not have been given 'house' room bigger than a broom cupboard.Now,Tata have unveiled outside India the Nano to wide public interest,and Toyota is showing a microcar less than three metres long.So going smaller and alternative energy technology often go hand in hand in the drive for economy and efficiency for the family car.

Other headline notes are:

• Volkswagen premieres the Golf TDI Hybrid -this 1.2 litre diesel concept is designed to emit less than 89g/km ogf CO2 and deliver 83 mpg
• VW also unveils a natural gas-fuelled car - the Passat estate TSI EcoFuel- it uses 5.2 kilogrammes of gas per 100 kilometres
• Again,from,VW is the Sharan BlueMotion - (shown above in a less than blue hue)
  
• All-New Ford Fiesta Twins make a debut
• KIA Soul concepts and eco-c'eed Duo to star at Geneva
• SEAT are to show a landmark concept
• SAAB defines its future design with the 9-X Bio-Hybrid concept
• The Hyundai HED-5 i-Mode concept said to hint at a future MPV production model
• and the previously mentioned Toyota iQ takes a bow

So,plenty of new production cars,together with glimpses of the future with the new technology concepts. A main theme of the show remains,though, the drive by many manufacturers to improve the efficiency of many of their existing models.

More soon from this car feast of delights, a mix of dreams and of reality.

Oh What A Motor Show!At Geneva its a Case of the Two E's:Efficiency and Emissions.

In Geneva,Switzerland,the largest Motor Show of its kind in Europe will be officially open to visitors tomorrow.One headline is that car manufacturers are tussling with the challenges of a decline in demand from the mature markets(e.g.North America,Spain ,Italy)but are experiencing burgeoning demand from the emerging markets like Russia,India and China.VW's chief is expecting a 25% growth this year from its China business alone.
p
Anyway let's return to the stars of the Show. And the big stories are likely to be lithium-ion battery charged.It is said that Toyota will officially announce that it is going into mass production with its lithium-ion batteries for low-emission cars.Mercedes are also charging-up a 'C' class with same technology.Weighing-in,too, will be General Motors which is developing its hybrid Chevrolet Volt. And,among the quirky,comes the sporty Rinspeed sQuba,also powered by lithium-ion batteries,which has the capability of underwater swimming.

There will be much more as the Show goes on,including a tasty-looking all-new five-door Ford Fiesta (shown above).But we need to look at its green credentials.There will be production model launched in the Autumn based on the lines of the Verve concept.There will be a sub-100g/km CO2 emission model, the ECOnetic version - some further details are posted at the Green Car Guide website.

Back soon.