The Top 5 Environmentally Friendly Sports Cars
Mon, Mar 3, 2008
It’s traditionally been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find an environmentally friendly sports car. A new crop of cars is set to change all that.
Image from Fogcat5
As environmentalism goes mainstream and commercial, more and more car companies are developing “green” cars that have impressive designs and performance. While an electric sports car is unlikely to whip your average Ferrari in a race, the cars on this list could at least put up a decent fight.
Without further ado, here’s my list of the top 5 eco friendly sports cars:
The Velozzi
Unlike the rest of the cars on this list, this car is a hybrid rather than a full electric vehicle. The car is being created by Team Velozzi to compete in the 2009 automotive X-Prize, a competition to find a super fuel-efficient vehicle that is environmentally friendly, desirable, and marketable. The Velozzi is certainly all those, at least for me. The car boasts a top speed of 200 mph and goes 0-60 in under three seconds. It gets better. The hybrid’s gas tanks can be fuelled with almost anything, including gas, biodiesel, methanol, or pretty much any of your normal alternative fuels. The design is top notch as well. The Velozzi is an Italian car, and its designers took some of their design from the classic Italian sports cars. If you look closely, you can see a bit of Lamborghini in it.
Lifecar
Image from Morgan Motors
The Lifecar (for Lightweight Fuel Efficient car) is a hydrogen-powered, zero emission concept car created in part by British carmaker Morgan. It’s incredibly lightweight at less than 700 kg, giving it the ability to travel 250 miles on a single tank of hydrogen. It’s a bit slower than the other cars on the list, going 0-60 in seven seconds and topping out at 90 mph, but it makes up for that by being pretty. Morgans have always been gorgeous in my opinion, but this one combines sleek modernity with classic elegance particularly well.
ZAP Alias
Image from ZAP Motors
The ZAP Alias is the result of a partnership between ZAP (for Zero Air Pollution) motors and high-end British car manufacturer Lotus. The car will do 0-60 in 5.7 seconds and can reach a top speed of 156 miles an hour. Compare that to the basic 2007 Ford Mustang, which tops out at 149 mph. The car’s power comes from its unique three wheeled design, which vaguely reminds me of a Batmobile that went wrong somewhere. Each of the front two wheels is powered by its own electric motor, which gives the car its speed and power. The Alias has a decent range for an electric car too at over 100 miles per charge.
Tesla Roadster
Image from Fogcat5
The Tesla Roadster is one of the most well-known electric cars today. Like the ZAP Alias, Lotus also had a hand in making it. This involvement with Lotus likely helped give it its curvy, downright sexy body design. The Roadster’s not just all looks either. It goes 0-60 is just 3.9 seconds while it can travel more than 220 miles on a single battery charge. The top speed is electronically set at 125 mph, though some say it could have the capacity to do more. The Roadster gets 4.7 miles to the kilowatt hour, roughly equivalent to 135 miles per gallon.
The Lightning
Image via Lightning Car Company
With a top speed of over 130 mph and acceleration at 0-60 in 4 seconds, the Lightning GT doesn’t lack for speed and power. The sports car will travel 250 miles on a charge, and its motors combine to output the electrical equivalent of 700 hp. The batteries will be made by Altair Nanotech, which supposedly produces batteries that are more stable and less toxic. The design doesn’t suck either. Like several other cars on this list the Lightning is British, and the designers drew a lot of their influences from classic British sports cars. The result is a sleek, powerful looking car that for some reason reminds me of a Maserati mixed with a bit of Aston Martin. This is the type of car environmentalist men will want to drive when they have their mid-life crisis.
So there’s our list of the top 5 environmentally friendly sports cars. We want to hear your opinion on these cars and any suggestions about what other cars could have been on the list.
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March 3rd, 2008 at 8:36 pm
“green” sport car ? I don’t think so. Where does the electricity or the hydrogen come from ? Electricity is from batteries recharged on the grid, so it’s from nuclear or thermal power station. Hydrogen comes from electrolysis of water, a very energy inefficient process. Biofuels are grown after original forest was cut down…. so where is the environment aspect here ? there isn’t any. It’s just that addicts to sport cars try to show they have a concern for the environment. Remember that a car is just a mean of transport, a ton of metal and plastics used to move a 70kg lazy human being. If you want to be “green”, ride a bike, or use a car when you have no other alternative, but surely not for fun or “sport”. Also, where’s the sport in driving, you’re just sitting in a seat. Try cycling, or fit pedals in your “green” car, then we’ll talk again.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
It’s interesting to note that three of these five intend to compete in the Automotive X Prize - I guess if you have a greenish sports car, you must think your odds of winning are pretty good :-). If wonder if the Life Car or the Lightening GT will eventually enter as well?
I personally think they’ve all got their work cut out for them to beat Aptera, which isn’t a sports car per say but I bet they can make it go real fast with that aerodynamic streamlining!
I’ve been profiling all the X Prize Cars and it’s a very interesting bunch!
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Most people, at least in the U.S., are going to continue to drive the most luxurious, fastest, largest car they can afford to buy and afford to drive. But, they love to pretend that they are being “green” and so for that reason electric hot rods will sell to those who can afford them.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:01 am
What’s 70kg convert to in Pounds? I’m a lazy human.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:58 am
70kg x 2.2= 154lbs
March 5th, 2008 at 5:20 am
We see all this concentration on MPG but no figures on the amount of energy that it takes to manufacture and scrap these vehicles at the end of their life. Until this aspect is taken into consideration all other statistics are completely meaningless.
Using this criteria the toyota prius is in the worst ten and the jeep cherokee is in the best ten of the worst poluting vehicles, you go figure
March 8th, 2008 at 4:53 am
I’ve heard that the Prius takes more energy over its lifespan than a Hummer too, but I don’t believe it. Where are you getting your facts?
March 8th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
It was widely publicised in the british national press a while ago.Try the daily mail.
Hope this helps.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:52 am
Technology always comes from the top down. Are green sports cars really that green? Probably not. Is the technology being developed by these companies going to help? Most likely. Is the development of green sports cars going to change the way the average person looks at energy efficient cars? Absolutely! Let the rich idealists pay to the development and when the tech is cheap enough and efficient enough it will be a mass marketable product.
About electric and hydrogen sources; yes it is true that hydrogen production can and is often a dirty and high energy intensive process (really better to think of hydrogen as a energy carrier rather than an energy producer) and the electricity has to come from somewhere. One of the good thing about electricity is that it can be produced in so many different ways and that not all of those processes produce carbon output. Even if the process that is being used produces carbon at least it has been removed from the tailpipe (reducing smog in urban areas) and moved to a central location where it is easier to clean up.
I just hope that wind and solar power come to be in higher use as time goes on.