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Environmental issues are a hot topic. There’s a huge range of subjects to discuss, from global treaties to local air quality. The Scottish Parliament has recently announced plans to ban all new diesel vehicles by 2020, extending to new petrol cars by 2032. That’s going to be followed by a UK wide ban by 2040 as well as similar plans in France.
We’re all becoming more conscious of our impact on the environment and it’s particularly important when you’re planning your fleet purchasing. Switching to more eco-friendly vehicles will help to minimise harmful pollution in city centres and across the road network.
But what vehicles do you choose? Here are our picks for five of the best eco-friendly vehicles.
Our Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Contenders
The Hyundai Ioniq
The Hyundai Ioniq is a good, economic company car. It’s comfortable to drive so makes for a practical family vehicle too. The plugin electric model allows you a journey of around 100 to 150 miles on a single charge. If you’re not quite ready for an electric only vehicle there’s a hybrid option. The manufacturers estimate that you’ll get around 83mpg using standard fuel. Of course, Co2 emissions are also an important factor to consider. Electric only vehicles have zero emissions, but even the hybrid version only has emissions of 92g per km. That’s lower than most standard vehicles.
Toyota Prius
We couldn’t write about eco-friendly vehicles without including the Prius. It’s the original hybrid and still one of the best. It’s an expensive choice but if you wait for the new Plugin Hybrid version to be released you could benefit from a massive 282mpg. We’d recommend the hybrid, purely because the electric only version only offers up to around 40 miles per charge. That wouldn’t be the most practical choice for most business journeys.
The CO2 emissions are also incredibly low at between 22 and 76g per km.
Lexus GS300h
The Lexus is eye wateringly expensive so you won’t want to take this option across the fleet. However, if you’re looking for a luxury option, it’s a great choice. It offers a level of comfort to compete with less eco-friendly luxury cars and feels almost sporty in its performance.
The higher level of performance is reflected in its fuel economy and emissions. Its CO2 emissions are around 106-115g per km. That’s comparable to a much smaller standard car. The manufacturers also estimate that you’ll get 62mpg which is around double what you’d expect from a standard version.
Renault Kangoo Z.E.
The Kangoo, Renault’s first all-electric van, is incredibly popular on the continent where it represents around a quarter of all electric vehicles on the road. The new Kangoo Z.E. 33 launched in 2017 and improves on the previous version by offering a longer distance between charges of up to 168 miles. As it’s electric only it also has zero emissions.
The Kangoo is compact but has a loading area of up to 4.6m3, carrying up to 650kg so is an ideal choice if you’re operating in urban areas.
Nissan e-NV200
The Nissan is snapping at the Kangoo’s heels – it was the best-selling electric van in Europe in both 2016 and 2017. It currently has the largest load space as well, carrying a payload of up to 662kg.
The latest version has a new, larger battery pack which increases the distance between charges to around 174. They estimate that if you’re operating mainly in cities that could even increase to 188 miles between charges.
There aren’t any hybrid vans available in the UK yet, but we hear that Ford have one in development. Watch this space…
