This is one of the most emotive and arguably one of the most mis-represented parts of the campaign against 4x4s.
Those who want to see the vehicles banned would have you believe that 4 wheel drive vehicles are responsible for a huge percentage of the pollution caused in the world today... This is simply not true.
We have a newsflash..... Cars are not good for the environment !
Yes, we said it. You will be hard pushed to find any motorised form of transport which is "good" for the environment.
Everything we do in modern life has an effect on the environment. Think a battery powered car is good ? Where does the electricty come from to charge the battery ?
Until we have sustainable, renewable power sources, every car we drive will have a detrimental effect. Any idea how much energy and raw material goes into making an "environmentally friendly" small car ? The production of plastics, the extraction of metal, the energy to power factories and production lines, the transportation.... it goes on.
The purpose for highlighting this is not to cloud the arguments, nor to crusade for the production of renewable energy sources (there are some organisations doing a fine job of that already). Our purpose for raising these issues is to put things into perspective.
Too much C02 increases greenhouse gases, climate change is an issue, there are too many cars on the road.... we don't disagree with any of these sentiments. We DO take issue with the blame being laid for the above at the door of the 4x4.
You may have seen figures comparing the emissions of a Land Rover Discovery with those of a Ford Focus. It will be no shock to most to know that the Focus comes out on top in terms of being "green". Here are a few more comparisons which we hope will put things a little more into perspective :
| Environmental Comparison of Modern Vehicles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle | MPG | CO2 per Km |
| Audi A3 2.0 Tdi | 51.4 | 149 |
| Ford Galaxy 1.9 Tdi LX | 42.8 | 178 |
| Toyota Corolla 1.6 VVT-I T3 | 40.4 | 168 |
| Toyota Rav4 2.0 D-4D XT2 | 39.8 | 206 |
| Nissan X-trail 2.2 dci 136 Se | 39.2 | 190 |
| Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0 Crtd Gsi | 37.2 | 202 |
| Land Rover Freelander 2.0 Td4 | 37.2 | 205 |
| Renault Espace2.2dci Priviledge | 36.7 | 206 |
| Peugeot 307 2.0 16v Xsi | 35.8 | 188 |
| Mini one 1.6 Cooper S 3dr | 33.6 | 202 |
| Ford Focus 2.0i Zetec | 33.1 | 207 |
| BMW X5 3.0d Sport 4x4 | 32.8 | 229 |
| Jeep Cherokee 2.5 CRD Ltd | 31.4 | 250 |
| BMW Z4 3.0i SE | 31 | 221 |
| Audi A4 1.8T Quattro | 30.1 | 226 |
| Land Rover Discovery TD5 | 30.1 | 262 |
| Chrysler Grand Voyager 2.8 crd | 29.4 | 0 |
| Porshe Boxter 2.7 | 29.1 | 233 |
| Ford Mondeo 3.0 Ghia X | 27.4 | 247 |
| Jaguar XJ8 4.2 SE Auto | 26 | 264 |
| Subaru Impreza 2.0 WRX Sti | 25.4 | 265 |
| Lexus GS300 Se Auto 4dr | 24.3 | 281 |
| Rolls Royce Phantom 6.75 | 20 | 385 |
All figures from the BBC, MPG figures are EU approved combined fuel economy. C02 is number of grammes emitted per kilometre
As can be seen, whilst certain 4x4s do produce more pollutants than certain small cars.. they are by no means the worst. In fact, some small cars are worse in terms of fuel efficiency than some of the 4x4's. And this is the big problem with trying to generalise about a vehicle type. It is STATISTICALLY WRONG to say that 4x4s are terrible polluting vehicles.... a Ford Focus Zetec produces MORE CO2 per kilometer than a Nissan X-Trail, a Mini Cooper does fewer miles to the gallon than a Land Rover Freelander... the issues are not as clear-cut as some would make out.
We should also consider the sales figures for the vehicles. 4x4 sales accounted for only a small percentage of new vehicle sales in the UK last year. Banning them may reduce emissions, but if it does, as can be seen from the above data, it won't be by much. If every X-Trail owner who bought a vehicle last year bought a Ford Focus Zetec instead, there would actually be an INCREASE in emissions. The evil 4x4 ?
All vehicles sold in the UK have to pass and comply with government and European emissions regulations.
www.4x4prejudice.org