Green Vehicles

Green vehicle
By Various
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Toyota Prius is the world's top selling hybrid car, with cumulative global sales of 1.6 million units by early 2010, and has become the icon of green cars.
A green vehicle or environmentally friendly vehicle is a road motor vehicle that produces less harmful impacts to the environment than comparable conventional internal combustion engine vehicles running on gasoline or diesel. Presently, in some countries the term is used for any vehicle surpassing the Euro6-norm such as LEVs and ULEVs, and also more informally it is used for California's zero emissions vehicles and other low-carbon emission vehicles.
Green vehicles are powered by alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies and include hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, compressed-air vehicles, hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles, neat ethanol vehicles, flexible-fuel vehicles, natural gas vehicles, clean diesel vehicles, and some sources also include vehicles using blends of biodiesel and ethanol fuel or gasohol. Several author also include conventional motor vehicles with high fuel economy, as they consider that increasing fuel economy is the most cost-effective way to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in the transport sector in the short run. As part of their contribution to sustainable transport, environmentally friendly vehicles reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to energy independence by reducing oil imports.
Green vehicles include vehicles types that function fully or partly on alternative energy sources other than fossil fuel or less carbon intensive than gasoline or diesel.


Another option is the use of alternative fuel composition in conventional fossil fuel-based vehicles, making them function partially on renewable energy sources. Other approaches include personal rapid transit, a public transportation concept that offers automated, on-demand, non-stop transportation on a network of specially built guide ways.


Electric and fuel cell-powered
Examples of vehicles with reduced petroleum consumption include electric cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell-powered hydrogen cars.
Electric cars are typically more efficient than fuel cell-powered vehicles on a wheel-to-wheel basis. For this reason, battery powered vehicles and plug-in hybrids are gaining popularity. They have better fuel economy than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles but are hampered by range or maximum distance attainable before discharging the battery. The electric car batteries are their main cost. They provide a 55% to 99.9% improvement in CO2 emissions compared to an ICE (gasoline, diesel) vehicle, depending on the source of electricity.


Hybrid electric vehicles
Hybrid cars may be partly fossil fueled and partly electric or hydrogen-powered. They are more expensive to purchase but cost redemption is achieved in a period of about 5 years due to better fuel economy.


Compressed air cars, stirling vehicles, and others
Compressed air cars, stirling-powered vehicles, Liquid nitrogen vehicles are even less polluting than electrical vehicles, as the vehicle and its components can be made more environmentally friendly.
Solar car races are held on a regular basis in order to promote green vehicles and other "green technology". These sleek driver-only vehicles can travel long distances at highway speeds using only the electricity generated instantaneously from the sun.