All that talk has reached the ears of the consumers, who pretty have come to the conclusion that alternative means good. A great prospect for the car makers who have invested billions in EVs, PHEVs, hybrids and such. Only if it were true.
According to research conducted by automotive supplier Bosch and cited by The Telegraph, British motorists (and we have a feeling this applies to most of the world as well) like talking green, but they don't necessarily buy green.
Whereas 70 percent of those questioned (1,000 participants) said they are green, but only five percent of them actually take into account the green attributes of a car when shopping. Apparently, other factors are much more important in a car than the degree of green: the price (63 percent), the size (56 percent) and, in decreasing order, design, style, brand and safety.
In other words, two of the most important attributes when buying a car, the safety and the fuel consumption/emissions, rank at the bottom of the list. Perhaps this is why, in most parts of the world, car manufacturers have taken their green vehicles to fleet operators first, contrary to tradition.
For the record though, fleet operators think green too, but a different kind of green: dollar green. For them, paying more now for a green vehicle means spending much less in the long term on fuel.
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