DRIVING ON AIR
A TRANSPORT revolution is floating on the horizon with the invention of the hydrogen car – an exciting new alternative to the traditional gas-guzzler. The Mail on Sunday takes the recently launched motor for a test drive and explores the cost of driving on air compared with other ecofriendly options and cars.
HYDROGEN
THE space-age car has finally arrived with the launch of the hydrogen-powered motor. Yet despite being fuelled by the most abundant element in the universe, it looks nothing like the futuristic Dan Dare-style space vehicle you might imagine – just a modern car.
There are currently only two models of hydrogen-fuelled car. Both launched this autumn – though more are expected to follow soon.
There is the £53,000 Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell and the £66,000 Toyota Mirai.
The new technology results in zero C02 emissions. The only ‘emission’ is a little water vapour coming out of the exhaust. This is the by-product of the chemical reaction between the hydrogen that fuels the car and oxygen naturally picked up in the air.
It takes just three minutes to fill up on hydrogen and a full tank will last more than 300 miles.
Unfortunately, you must plan your route carefully as there are currently only a handful of hydrogen filling sta- tions – at Heathrow, Hendon, Swindon, Teddington and Sheffield. A dozen more are scheduled to open next year.
The price of hydrogen fuel is about £4 a kilogram – and works out at the equivalent of about 60 miles per gallon.
Although not much cheaper to run than an average diesel-powered car, the price of hydrogen cars could halve if sales take off.
If there is an accident the car will not blow up like a Zeppelin hot air balloon or create a mushroom cloud. The power derives from a relatively safe chemical reaction, not nuclear fission.
ELECTRIC
THE electric car has been around for many years – and although yet to fulfil its full potential it has come a long way from the muchlampooned Sinclair C5 one-seater invented in 1985.
These days you can buy an electric car – such as the top-of-therange £70,000 Tesla P90D – and go from zero to 60mph in 2.8 seconds. If you wish to emulate Lewis Hamilton, you can rocket around a racetrack in one at 155mph.
You can also buy an electric car on a budget – with runarounds such as the Renault Zoe costing less than £14,000.
On the downside, most batteries struggle to go 100 miles without needing to be recharged. And despite more than 9,000 electric power points dotted around Britain, there is no guarantee you will always find one.
The cars cost less than £1 to charge up – though recharging can take eight hours.
Rosanna Hunt, 41, from Harbury in Warwickshire, believes she has found the ideal solution by hiring an electric car through the E-Car Club whenever she needs transport – saving on the cost and hassle of looking after the vehicle herself.
The health research assistant, currently on maternity leave with six-month-old daughter Tania, says: ‘The electric car is still relatively new technology so I thought the best way to try it out would be to hire a car rather than buy one. At £5.50 an hour including the cost of electricity it is great value.’
She adds: ‘Many people wonder about the power of these vehicles. But it is more nippy than my old Ford Focus petrol car and I have no problems whizzing along motorways.’
Rosanna, married to account manager Jez, 39, with whom she has two other children Wilbur, seven, and Jasper, four, says: ‘Hiring makes great savings – I only use a car once or twice a week.’
The E-Car Club is nationwide and charges customers a one-off lifetime membership fee of £50. It has 19 locations across Britain where you can pick up an electric car. Members get a swipe card that allows them access to vehicles. Once they unplug them they can then take them out for between an hour and several weeks at a time – plugging them back in at pick-up points after their journeys.
VERDICT: Electric car technology has come a long way in recent years. It’s an economical way to travel – but still restrictive if travelling long distances because of the need to recharge the cars.
HYBRID
THOSE motorists not ready to make the leap of faith to go fully electric or hydrogen powered should consider a hybrid.
This means you can put your foot down with traditional fuel on motorways and go electric while pottering around in town.
The most popular hybrid car is the £28,000 Toyota Prius – made famous by Hollywood stars such as Jennifer Aniston and Tom Hanks who love showing it off.
Most major car manufacturers make at least one hybrid model. Among the most popular are the £27,000 Peugeot 3008, the £20,000 Honda Insight and £22,000 Lexus CT200h.
They run on a mix of electric power and a choice of petrol or diesel. By combining both energy sources you can expect to get more than 100 miles per gallon.
There are more than 30,000 hybrids on our roads today – and they are by far the most popular eco-friendly vehicles.
VERDICT: You can save a lot of money – and in the process do your bit for the planet – with a hybrid. It’s a worthy eco-friendly car, even favoured by Hollywood luvvies.
LPG
THERE is no need to ditch your trusty old petrol-driven car if you opt for liquid petroleum gas.
A conversion will cost £1,500 and allow your car to run on both fuels. The benefit is that while the cost of petrol may be £1.08 a litre you can run on LPG at closer to 60p a litre.
All that is required is the space the size of a spare-wheel in the boot of the car to take the additional gas tank. It is not worth converting a diesel as such engines do not run so well on LPG.
Once you have made the change the biggest difference you will notice is the installation of a switch or button on the dashboard. This allows the motorist to drive on either petrol or gas.
Actor Holly Wedgwood, 20, from Bathgate in West Lothian, had her second-hand Kia Rio converted to run on gas last year – and says it saves her £100 a month in fuel
bills. She says: ‘I still use petrol to turn on the engine but as soon as the motor is running I flick the switch and go on to gas.
‘It cuts the cost of driving the car in half as rather than pay £55 to fill up with petrol each week when driv- ing into work in Edinburgh, I spend £28 on gas instead. I put a tenner’s worth of petrol in the tank each month so the car will always start.’
Holly notices no difference in performance motoring along on gas. The petrol nozzle is on the rear left of the car while the gas nozzle is on the right – which is simply plugged in at the station.
There are 1,400 refuelling points in Britain that offer LPG – often identified with an ‘autogas’ logo.
If running low on gas Holly simply switches to petrol until she finds a station where she can fill up again. Liquefied petroleum gas is a natural hydrocarbon propane gas that also has other household uses, such as fuelling gas barbecues. There are 150,000 LPG converted cars on Britain’s roads. Trade body UK LPG website offers details of approved LPG conversion firms and filling stations.
VERDICT: A cost-effective way to pimp your petrol-powered ride to be cheaper – but no good for diesel and will not save the planet.
TRADITIONAL FUEL
THE cost of petrol and diesel is plummeting – with motoring organisation RAC believing it could soon fall to below £1 a litre.
The average price is currently 108p a litre for petrol and 110p for diesel. You can find the cheapest local petrol station by visiting website PetrolPrices.com.
You can push down the cost of driving even further by keeping tyres well inflated and turning off air conditioning. Fuel can also be saved by not putting your foot down too hard on the pedal and speeding.
If on the lookout for a new vehicle the most fuel-efficient is a diesel.
Paul Watters, a spokesman for the Automobile Association, says: ‘Buying used to be a straightforward choice between a petrol or diesel engine but rising fuel prices and environmental concerns means you have to be shrewd.
‘Check out the Governmentbacked Vehicle Certification Agency website link carfueldata.direct.gov. uk to find useful information on fuel consumption for individual cars.’
The most economical combustion engine is the diesel-powered hatchback Peugeot 208 – boasting 94 miles per gallon. At the other end of the scale is the Aston Martin Lagonda with a petrol-fuelled V12 engine that takes you just 17 miles a gallon.