Environmentally sound and safe as well
I drive many thousands of miles each year and to protect the environment I purchased a Honda Hybrid car in May 2007. This car uses a small petrol engine and an electric motor in an integrated propulsion unit.
The car returns some 45-50MPG and in addition is exempt from the London congestion charge. There is also a considerable saving in the car tax disc which is only £15 per year. All in all, I have been delighted with this car and recommended it to others.
Honda engineering also saved my life this week when I was involved in a crash which wrote off the car. The car was badly damaged but the driver's protection cell remained fully intact. My fear was that the car would catch fire, particularly with the high power batteries used within the car. My fears were unfounded. The Fire and Rescue Service cut the roof off the car so that they could slide me out on a spinal board. There was some concern that I may have had a whiplash injury. The Paramedics cut my suit off so that they could put a canula into my arm ready for any actions the hospital may need to carry out. The ambulance service took some Polaroid photographs of the scene and I was amazed that after being checked over at the hospital I was able to leave with no more that a bruise where the seat belt had been.
Had my car been an old one or one of a less robust nature then I doubt whether I would be writing this blog
Will I buy another Honda Hybrid?
I have already bought a new one to replace my one year old friend. I can drive it with confidence, knowing that in addition to doing my bit for the planet, Honda is doing all it can to ensure that I am safe in my car and even if the worst happens I have the best chance of surviving.
Thank you Honda
The car returns some 45-50MPG and in addition is exempt from the London congestion charge. There is also a considerable saving in the car tax disc which is only £15 per year. All in all, I have been delighted with this car and recommended it to others.
Honda engineering also saved my life this week when I was involved in a crash which wrote off the car. The car was badly damaged but the driver's protection cell remained fully intact. My fear was that the car would catch fire, particularly with the high power batteries used within the car. My fears were unfounded. The Fire and Rescue Service cut the roof off the car so that they could slide me out on a spinal board. There was some concern that I may have had a whiplash injury. The Paramedics cut my suit off so that they could put a canula into my arm ready for any actions the hospital may need to carry out. The ambulance service took some Polaroid photographs of the scene and I was amazed that after being checked over at the hospital I was able to leave with no more that a bruise where the seat belt had been.
Had my car been an old one or one of a less robust nature then I doubt whether I would be writing this blog
Will I buy another Honda Hybrid?
I have already bought a new one to replace my one year old friend. I can drive it with confidence, knowing that in addition to doing my bit for the planet, Honda is doing all it can to ensure that I am safe in my car and even if the worst happens I have the best chance of surviving.
Thank you Honda
Labels: car safety, Environment
Posted: Monday, 16 June 2008
Green Living
I recently took delivery of my new car, a Honda Civic Hybrid, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it drove like a 2ltr car but in reality only had a 1300 cc engine.
For the uninitiated a hybrid car has a small engine and an electric motor in series. The gearbox is a CVT (continuously variable transmission) so no automatic gear changes are perceptible. In normal motoring the car uses the small engine; when you need more power, the electric motor assists the engine and conversely when less power is needed the car charges the batteries, equally when braking the energy is directed to the batteries as well.
The one feature which was initially unsettling was that the engine stops when at a standstill with the footbrake applied. Releasing the footbrake starts the engine again.
The dashboard has an additional dial which indicates the state of charge of the batteries and an indication of assist (using the stored power from the batteries) or charge (putting power back into the batteries.
Questions
Do the batteries need recharging?
No, they are automatically charged when the car is used.
Do the batteries make the boot very small?
No, the 150 volt batteries sit behind the rear seat so the boot is a normal size.
What MPG is available?
The car is new so 50 MPG is what I am getting now, but I am assured that this will increase as the car loosens up, although the published top MPG of 65+ I think is unrealistic.
What are the other advantages?
Exempt from the London Congestion charge, £18 road tax and low CO2 emissions.
Is the car reliable?
Honda comes top in the car reliability stakes.
For the uninitiated a hybrid car has a small engine and an electric motor in series. The gearbox is a CVT (continuously variable transmission) so no automatic gear changes are perceptible. In normal motoring the car uses the small engine; when you need more power, the electric motor assists the engine and conversely when less power is needed the car charges the batteries, equally when braking the energy is directed to the batteries as well.
The one feature which was initially unsettling was that the engine stops when at a standstill with the footbrake applied. Releasing the footbrake starts the engine again.
The dashboard has an additional dial which indicates the state of charge of the batteries and an indication of assist (using the stored power from the batteries) or charge (putting power back into the batteries.
Questions
Do the batteries need recharging?
No, they are automatically charged when the car is used.
Do the batteries make the boot very small?
No, the 150 volt batteries sit behind the rear seat so the boot is a normal size.
What MPG is available?
The car is new so 50 MPG is what I am getting now, but I am assured that this will increase as the car loosens up, although the published top MPG of 65+ I think is unrealistic.
What are the other advantages?
Exempt from the London Congestion charge, £18 road tax and low CO2 emissions.
Is the car reliable?
Honda comes top in the car reliability stakes.
Labels: carbon footprint, Environment, iso14001
Posted: Monday, 9 July 2007
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