Eco-friendly cars and technology

There are many advantages of being a major oil exporter. One of them is having astronomically low prices of petroleum and other fuels at home, particularly when compared to the fuel prices in other nations. But there is a rising awareness in public as well as the private sector in the gulf, that the prudent way forward would be to accept the emergence of green technologies. The future of automobiles rests upon vehicles that will be generating less or no green-house emissions. Lowering the carbon footprint has become the mantra of the year 2020. We’re looking at eco-friendly cars and technology that can save the planet.

Sustainability initiatives

Efforts are being made to actively seek new, sustainable sources of energy. Some steps have noticeably succeeded in creating a buzz among the general public. This has driven the automobile industry to capitalize on this demand and spearhead the growth and development of eco-friendly vehicles. One such effort was made by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), just the past September, by incentivizing the owners of electric vehicles. Perks included complimentary charging and free parking spots that are exclusively reserved for eco-friendly cars.

Steps in the right direction

The car manufacturer Lexus has made its range of hybrid car models, available in the market for the last few years. The most cost-effective model has been a CT200, which has a showroom price of 166,000 AED.

Hybrid cars are a combination of electric and fuel-based vehicle. Hybrid cars can operate on electric engine up to a certain level of speed, which is usually about 40kph. After that, it switches on to the fuel engine. The Lexus models of hybrid cars do not need charging, as the electric engine utilizes the energy produced from brake friction to charge itself.

Apart from hybrids, Toyota’s Mirai has been conducting trials to be launched as a hydrogen-powered vehicle. Quick refueling and a handsome mileage of over 500 km, this noiseless vehicle can be the next big thing. The only road-block in its way is the lack of an established infrastructure for hydrogen fueling. The tremendously high costs of constructing these hydrogen filling stations are a huge hurdle, that seems unsurmountable at the moment.

Renault has left its competitors far behind in the electrical vehicles arena. With Zoe, the french automaker introduced a wide range of vehicles in the gulf market.

Tesla is not fallen much behind either. Elon Musk made sure that enough eyeballs were on the showroom opening in June 2017, by making an appearance in February 2017. This generated buzz and got the ball rolling for the American brand. However, the launch of its base Model S has been an expensive affair, starting at 315,000 AED.

The more cost-effective alternative, as it turns out is Nissan’s Leaf, which you can get for about 118,000 AED.

Looking through the above-mentioned cars, it can be deduced that the mainstream adoption of electric cars is on the rise. It is encouraging to see that automakers are taking small but meaningful steps towards a more sustainable future.

So that’s it, the future of eco-friendly cars and technology for a brighter, greener future.

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