2.2. Disadvantages

As with any vehicle, the disadvantages must be considered. In general, the cons of eco-friendly vehicles are limited.

* One of the major disadvantages of hybrid and electric cars is the maintenance. Specialized officials are required to maintain the vehicles because they have different wiring systems than other cars. This might mean traveling farther for maintenance because not all mechanics are set up to care for the vehicle.

* The initial cost might be slightly higher if the buying vehicle is new. Though the cost is only a few thousand more on average and the savings in gas will ultimately make it worth the slightly higher initial expense, this might be an issue for some individuals.

* Electric cars have a further disadvantage of limited battery life. This means it is not possible to travel as far with the electric vehicle as it is with the hybrid or regular car.

2.3. Car Options

When seeking a green vehicle, having a few options in mind can help make a choice easier.

* The Toyota Prius is a popular green vehicle. It is eco-friendly, professional looking and fuel efficient.

* The Civic Hybrid is another popular option. This vehicle looks like any other sleek car on the road, but has fuel economy as a major benefit.

* The Lexus RX-450 is a great option for those seeking a hybrid SUV. It is great looking and saves on gas costs.

The economy and the environment are helped with the use of green vehicles. Even personal finances are improved as a result of cheap car insurance quotes, lower taxes, decreased fuel costs and cheap auto insurance. Green cars are an amazing invention that is sweeping the world by storm.

All cars come with BlueMotion Technology – meaning energy recuperation systems and stop/start – as standard. There’s little not to like here - it’s a class-leader and has more standard kit than before too.

Ecology friendly cars in Russia

Russia, just like all the other developed and developing countries, is trying to develop the usage of ecological and so called “cars from the future”. And proof of that is a concept car Yo-mobile.

The Yo-mobil is a planned hybrid electric car that will be produced by Yo-auto, a Russian company that is a joint venture between SKD truck maker Yarovit and the Onexim investment group.

The car was introduced on 13 December, 2010 in Moscow, a product of a joint venture between Yarovit, owner of a small assembly plant in St. Petersburg, Russia and the Onexim investment group, headed by Mikhail Prokhorov, who is the leader and financier of the project.

Michail Prokhorov planned to invest around €150 million (US$200 million) in a venture, dubbed Yo-auto. According to Prokhorov, he intended for the vehicle to "break the stereotype saying Russia can't produce good cars." The car will be powered by an engine that can burn both gasoline and natural gas and is connected to a pair of electric motors. Unlike other hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, the internal-combustion engine directly powers the motors rather than a battery. It was planned to install a rotary vane type engine, with the pistons moving in a circle, rather than linearly. However, the inventor of the engine Mikhail Virgiyanov in an open letter to the company refused to continue work on the engine and accused the company of copyright infringement.

Fuel economy of the car is expected to be around 67 mpg-US (3.5 L/100 km; 80 mpg-imp), with a range of 680 miles (1,090 km) and a top speed of 80 mph (130 km/h). However, no tests were conducted due to the lack of working examples

Yo-auto initially planned to begin producing the car during the second half of 2012, and had aims to sell 10,000 during the first year of production. However, these plans were revised in 2012, with the estimated start of production now moved to early 2015. While it will be initially sold in Russia, Yo-auto plans to sell the vehicle in Europe subject to compliance with European Union regulations. The cars will be manufactured in a factory near St. Petersburg that will have an estimated annual capacity of 45,000 units. A second factory, to be opened later, is expected to double the annual production rate.

In late 2011, Vietnamese company TMT and Yo-auto announced plans to develop a line of 2-8 seat cars for the Vietnam market, developed from the Yo-mobil platform. At the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, yo-Auto presented a concept yo-mobil with sliding doors. Instead of mirrors, the concept utilized a pair of video cameras for rear view vision.

But that’s not the only project on that matter. This year the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Basic Element Company Oleg Deripaska and Rosneft President Igor Sechin have agreed on their companies’ cooperation in expanding the use of auto gas fuel (compressed natural gas or CNG) in Russia.

The parties have agreed to interact in production and distribution of auto gas fuel for various categories of automobile transport in the Russian Federation, in particular in the Moscow and Leningrad Regions, in the Krasnodar Territory and along major Europe-bound auto routes.

According to the memorandum the parties intend to establish a joint operating company for project implementation. Within the framework of cooperation Rosneft will study the possibility of placing CNG filling modules at its own filling stations and connecting the modules to gas pipelines (natural gas supply network).

Russian Machines, in turn, plans to develop technical solutions for integration of auto gas filling modules with Rosneft infrastructure and will execute a program to supply gas-powered vehicles to domestic automobile fleets.

In February 2013, Gorky Automobile Plant built a pilot batch of pre-production bi-fuel GAZelle-Business light commercial vehicles (gasoline and CNG). Commenting on the agreement, Oleg Deripaska, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Basic Element Group, said:

“The mission of Basic Element’s machine building business is to support economical and environmentally friendly passenger and freight transportation in Russia. Cooperation with Rosneft oil company will enable us both to give a new impetus to inland transportation development and create a fleet of gas-powered buses and light commercial vehicles in Russia. Conversion of transport vehicles to economical auto gas fuel will also become a major factor boosting competitiveness of individual businesses and the country’s economy as a whole”.

Will we see the major car manufacturers get behind this alternative power supply for cars and bring their hybrid, dual fuel and alternative low emission auto-technology to Russia now? Thus far most car companies operating in Russia have appeared content to sell their high margin, relatively low-tech oil burners, contributing to the air problems in Moscow and other Russian cities. One of the main reasons for the slow take up of ‘clean-air cars’ has been the absence of the requisite infrastructure to support the fueling, a feeling amongst marketeers that Russia is ‘not serious’ about environmental issues and limited ‘push’ for the investment by the gas and infratsructure companies. By the way compressed natural gas – methane – is the cheapest of commonly used motor fuels today. Fuel costs per 100 km of a CNG vehicle are almost 60% lower than those of an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) one, more than twice lower than a diesel-powered automobile and 2.5 times lower than a gasoline vehicle.

Conclusion

Fuel economy is a hot topic and car firms are responding to global demand by making their cars ever-more efficient, because more than a quarter of the world-wide CO2-emissions are caused by the transportation sector, with a tendency to grow faster than in any other sector. Therefore, the way we organize and handle the increasing demand and logistic flows is also gaining importance.

We have found out that a green vehicle or environmentally friendly vehicle, it is a road motor vehicle that produces less harmful impacts to the environment than comparable conventional internal combustion engine vehicles running on gasoline or diesel, or one that uses certain alternative fuels. Green vehicles can be powered by alternative fuels, advanced vehicle technologies and include hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, compressed-air vehicles, hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles, neat ethanol vehicles, flexible-fuel vehicles, natural gas vehicles.

Nowadays more and more people prefer this cars to the regular ones, because they some of them really care about the environment and the others want to save money.

Also Many governments offer a hybrid tax credit or hybrid tax rebate as a financial incentive for consumers to purchase a hybrid vehicle.

The advantages of using a green car are variable. It can range from obtaining cheap auto insurance and cheap car insurance quotes to improving the health of the planet. Understanding the advantages can make the process of choosing a car simpler.

Low insurance cost is one of the major benefits of a green car. Than we have lower gas costs. Creation of jobs is other advantage of green vehicles, particularly as it relates to the economy. Better air quality is also a factor involved in the green vehicle.

Also there is a range of disadvantages. In general, the cons of eco-friendly vehicles are limited. One of the major disadvantages of hybrid and electric cars is the maintenance. Electric cars have a limited battery life. This means it is not possible to travel as far with the electric vehicle as it is with the hybrid or regular car.

Unfortunately in Russia this business is not developed as in Europe or in the USA, but there is a chance that in some 10-15 year ecology friendly cars will conquer the market.

1 Mains – leading companies