High gas mileage car makers now need to do more than manufacture
green cars. They must also be environmentally friendly entities themselves.
When the first hybrid Prius's went on sale it didn't take people long to
comment on how bad for the environment the building and transporting of
cars is. Many people believed it would be far better for the environment
to keep an old car than buy a new car, even if it was a Toyota hybrid. To
their credit Toyota quickly took this criticism on board and progressively
made building not just the Prius but all their cars more and more environmentally
friendly. Lets take a look at some of the things Toyota have done in this
regard.
From 2003 to 2009 Toyota have reduced the amount of water used in the manufacture
of all their cars by 20%. Probably even better they've lowered their landfill
waste from their manufacturing plants by 96% since 1999. Toyota cars are
currently 90% recyclable and by 2015 they want to raise this figure to 95%.
All high gas mileage car makers are going to have to do likewise with their
production processes or sales will suffer for their wasteful habits. However
Toyota haven't only improved their production part of the business. Toyota
have a Vehicle Distribution Center in the U.S. in Portland which is one
of their greenest sites. The building gets all its energy through wind power
and 99% of construction waste did not end up in landfill.
Toyota are even making shipping better for the environment. One of the ships
used to transport Prius cars is part solar powered. The ship, named Auriga
Leader, has over 300 solar panels creating 40 kilowatts of electricity in
strong sunshine. The ship uses less fuel as a result and has lower emissions
than would otherwise be the case. Toyota say, 'It is yet another example
of how the new Prius benefits from clever use of renewable energy sources
throughout its life cycle'.
Other high gas mileage car manufacturers besides Toyota are also trying
to become kinder to the environment and its a wonderful unforeseen benefit
of the recent surge in efficient cars. The automotive industry as a whole
is becoming cleaner because they must if they want to sell large quantities
of cars. Most vehicle manufacturers won't own up to the fact that 15 years
ago they couldn't care less about the environment and will try to tell you
they've always been green. The truth is they've only recently become interested
in the environment because sales depend on it. The high gas mileage car
makes that are the greenest will have the best marketing advantage to sell
their cars. It doesn't only come down to who makes the
best high
gas mileage car.