Buying a green car could save you thousands of dollars in fuel costs.
Your finance company will give you a little pat on the back, too. Plenty of lenders reward your choice of a Green Car with a discount off the interest rate. That discount is generally between 0.3% and 0.7%. With today’s low interest rates, the difference in repayments might only be equal to 4 or 5 coffees a month, but every little bit helps.
What sort of car qualifies? New or demo cars tick the first box. Thereafter, they should have tailpipe emissions of no more than about 140 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, but that varies from one lender to the next. It puts Toyota’s Hybrid range of vehicles firmly in the picture. Any other hybrid is good. Small, light or efficient cars from virtually any maker also do well.
It goes without saying that purely electric cars, like the lovely Porsche Taycan in the picture, also do well. But do your research, people! Some electric cars do much better than others. Whilst it’s true they have no tailpipe emissions, their lifecycle CO2 might be a different story altogether. Something like the Taycan will suck a lot of juice out of the grid, even if the grid’s confined to your own home. Besides that, there was the energy involved in making it and replacing the expensive sticky tyres on a frequent basis if you don’t behave yourself in it.
The Australian Government’s Green Vehicle Guide website explains all these important considerations at length. Jump on. Have a read. Select 3 cars for comparison, and prepare to be amazed.