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When it comes to buying new cars, a lot of people fall in to one of two groups – those who don’t particularly care about the car itself, and will be looking for the cheapest option or the least likely to break down, and petrol heads who want the fastest, sleekest, coolest car they can find. ‘Green’ cars, designed to be more fuel efficient and produce less or no carbon emissions, have never really fallen into either group. Yes it’s nice to think you could make a difference with the car you drive, but let’s face it these environmentally friendly cars just aren’t capable of performing as well as their petrol-powered counterparts, and they usually cost a lot more too.

But these ideas could change and soon. A heightened awareness of green issues and climate change combined with the general public’s need to find the cheapest cars to run in the recession means demand for more fuel efficient vehicles is rising. Car buyers are starting to consider greener alternatives to petrol as a viable future for the car industry, and the new technology has come a very long way in the last few years. The latest eco friendly vehicles were on display at the Revolve Eco Rally recently, driving en mass from Madeira Drive in Brighton to gather outside London’s City Hall. A whole host of celebrity guest drivers took part and on arrival in London were met by Mayor Boris Johnson, himself a keen supporter of green transport, for the What Car? Green Awards.

The rally and award ceremony were intended to show what the latest developments in green cars are capable of, and awards were given to vehicles in a number of categories. The overall winner was the Volvo S40 DRIVe for combining its green credentials and supreme fuel efficiency with safety, security and being an all-round good small family car – it’s still not cheap though, and for around £50 more you can buy a Toyota Avensis, winner of the large family car category. Other winners were the Mini Cooper S, which won best green sports car for the second year running, and for those who still have cash to spare and can afford to buy an Audi the A8 was named best green luxury car. The pioneering battery-powered Tesla Roadster won the Editors Award, which takes electric cars to a whole new level and performs well enough to please even the most picky of petrol-heads.

And the result of all this? Well, it looks as if the future of motoring could be green after all. Sure it’s true that they are still somewhat more expensive than most, but it won’t be long before they won’t cost the earth, and it seems like when they do become more affordable people will want one whatever type of car they normally drive.

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