In a recent poll commissioned by the RAC, it suggests that not too many of us care about climate change, as almost a third of company car drivers are not bothered by the emission levels of their next company car, even if it means they have to pay more in benefit in kind tax.
When asked if they might be looking for a smaller vehicle next time around, almost half of the company car drivers that were asked said they won’t, although to be fair that reduced to less than a third when private motorists were asked the same question.
So the scores on the doors at the moment are that just over a quarter (26%) say they will definitely consider a more environment-friendly car, with a little over half (53%), saying that opting for a greener vehicle is only a “maybe”.
I guess the picture is bound to be different between private motorists and company car users, because to a business driver doing 30,000 + miles a year, his car is very much a tool of his trade, its his office, its his home from home and whilst a Sunday afternoon drive might be a nice thing for many of us, when you live on the road, as many company car drivers do, it’s a torment and drivers just want to get the job done as easily and as comfortably as they can, so they aren’t going to willingly opt for some small uncomfortable car with the performance of a slug on Sanatogen.
A similar number (62%) feel that teaching motorists how to drive more fuel efficiently is a sensible approach to green motoring. Supporting this, nearly a third (31%) say they are already doing more to change their driving style in order to conserve fuel.
To be fair, motor manufacturers should be praised for the work they’ve done in the last 10 years or so. We now have lower polluting vehicles, that deliver hugely impressive fuel economy, some allowing us to get as much as 70mpg from our cars and I want you to just stop for one moment and think on that as it wasn’t long ago that many cars did less than 20mpg and 30mpg and this was considered as a reasonable level of economy.
Personal transport is changing whether we like it or not. We’ve already got Hybrids and all Electric cars are just beginning to appear and within a decade (the smart people say), it’s likely we will have fuel cell cars on the road. The cars we drive today are an endangered species, make no mistake and its unlikely they will be around in 20 years time, So what about this for a viewpoint? As we are, clearly witnessing the end of motoring as we know it, where powerful fast accelerating cars that can excite us are becoming a thing of the past, maybe, just maybe, drivers are happy at this time to pay more tax and pollute a little bit more, because they know it’s the swan song and the cars we love will be close to extinction once the enviro-police have there way, so guys and gals fill your boots and drive the car you want, even if it does cost you a little more, for at least you can tell your grandchildren that you drove one of these dinosaurs, for that’s what they are set to become.
