Sean O'Grady: The ugly side of going green

[Honda News Feed]

I blame the Americans. No, not for the crisis in the Middle East, not for global warming, not even for fast food. However, I do hold the Americans responsible for making my car ugly. The Honda Civic Hybrid I've been lent does many things admirably. It's a smooth, reasonably well equipped cruiser that is doing its little bit to save the planet by using less fuel than it otherwise would. This is because its hybrid motor uses power that would otherwise be wasted, for example during braking. It stores it in batteries in the boot of the car. Then, for example during hard acceleration, the batteries power an electric motor that helps out the relatively small petrol engine. Despite using electric power to move along, the Honda is not a plug-in electric car. It generates all its electricity itself. Fuel economy is around 40mpg, not that outstanding, I know, and rather less than the official figures suggest, but better than if it was running on petrol alone, and arguably better than a diesel equivalent.


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