The best green cars for your budget
 Toyota’s swift little Aygo makes a great inner-city car with its nippy engine 22 May 2008 As the Sexy Green Car Show kicks off at the Eden Project in Cornwall, Dom Sacco looks at the best green cars for your budget, from the Toyota Aygo to the Tesla Roadster. View pictures of the cars which will avoid the London congestion charge Cars under £8,000 Toyota Aygo - £6,950 Car tax: £35 Toyota’s swift little Aygo makes a great inner-city car with its four star EuroNCAP safety rating and nippy engine. But if the Aygo’s styling isn’t to your taste, the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 are identical cars, but with different looks. Read our Toyota Aygo car review
Car tax: £120 The 2008 World Car of the Year offers stylish looks and supreme handling, with the entry-level supermini averaging 52.3mpg. Pay £1,000 more for the 1.4-litre TS diesel model and you’ll get 65.7mpg and pay just £35 per year for car tax. Read our Mazda 2 car review
£8,000 to £10,000
Car tax: £0 Slim and light, the G-Wiz isn’t the safest car on the road, but it’s powered by an electric motor which means it avoids car tax. It’s also small enough to fit into cramped parking spaces, and there are even 54 free recharging points in Westminster. Read our Goingreen G-Wiz car review
Car tax: £35 The 2008 European Car of the Year is a great compact green car for less than £10,000. You’ll get nearly 70mpg with the 1.3-litre diesel model which emits 110g/km of CO2, but for the price-conscious buyer there’s also a 1.2-litre petrol engine available which emits 119g/km. Read our Fiat 500 car review
£10,000 to £15,000
Car tax: £0 The Seat Ibiza Ecomotive is one of the cleanest new cars on sale today – the other being Volkswagen’s Polo BlueMotion. Both emit 99g/km of CO2 emissions and can run for a combined 74.3mpg. Read more about the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive
Car tax: £0 The Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion was one of the first green cars to be made available in the UK and is still one of the most frugal – but be careful. Adding extra kit – such as air-conditioning – moves it into tax band B at £35 per year. Read our Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion car review
View pictures of the cars which will avoid the London congestion charge
£15,000 to £20,000
Road Tax: £35 Ford’s eco-friendly Focus ECOnetic has a different front bumper skirt, rear spoiler and slimmer tyres than the normal Focus, and has a greener CO2 output of just 114g/km, placing it into tax band B (£35 per year). Read our Ford Focus ECOnetic feature
Car tax: £35 The entry-level Prius emits just 104g/km of CO2, making it one of the greenest hybrid cars available. The top-of-the-range T Spirit version features sat-nav and climate control – but will cost £20,682. Read our Toyota Prius car review
Above £20,000
Car tax: £400 Saab’s 9-3 BioPower Vector Sport can run on both petrol and bioethanol, and has a 0-60mph time of 7.5 seconds with a top speed of 143mph. But despite running on an alternative fuel it isn’t as green as it could be – road tax costs £400 and its average fuel consumption rate is 35.8mpg. Read our Saab 9-3 BioPower car review
Car tax: £0 This electric-powered supercar uses the chassis of a Lotus Elise, produces 240bhp and goes from 0-60mph in just 3.9 seconds – and there are no CO2 emissions or car tax to pay. However, Tesla has already sold out the limited first production run of around 400 Roadsters. Read our Tesla Roadster feature Watch footage of the Tesla Roadster in action:
View pictures of the cars which will avoid the London congestion charge |
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Mazda 2 - £7,999.jpg)
Goingreen G-Wiz - £8,895.jpg)
Fiat 500 - £9,305
Seat Ibiza Ecomotive – £10,999.jpg)
Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion - £12,120
Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi ECOnetic – £16,050.jpg)
Toyota Prius T3 Hybrid - £17,782
Saab 9-3 BioPower - £25,385.jpg)
Tesla Roadster - £48,000Page 1
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