Cars

As well as being a leading cause of premature deaths from pollution, transport is now the largest greenhouse gas-emitting sector in the UK, accounting for nearly a third of total emissions.

Car use accounts for 15% of those emissions and the figures are on the rise with the absolute amount rising by 2.1% in 2016.

The Committee on Climate Change attributed the 2016 increase in car emissions to both an increase in the number of kilometres driven and an increase in the average CO2 intensity of cars. Given the need for everyone to be reducing their impacts by around 2% per year to limit climate change, it has never been more important for individuals to drive less, drive better and opt for a lower-impact car.

See our separate guide for Pure Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Cars.

The problem with diesel

The dieselgate scandal means that environmental campaigners, and now many governments, are no longer convinced by the promises of ‘clean diesel’. The continuing failure of diesel engines to meet pollution standards under real world driving conditions also mean that some manufacturers are beginning to announce phase-out dates for diesel from their entire passenger car ranges.

So, although three diesel cars make it into the top 30 greenest cars table, we are continuing not to recommend them as an ethical option. Recent research from campaigners has suggested that over the full life cycle of manufacture, fuel refining and biodiesel impacts, diesel cars actually emit more CO2 than petrol.

Diesel phase-out and fleet electrification

Many companies are setting ambitious targets for diesel phase-out far off into the future but, without constant vigilance, it is not uncommon to see such targets slip. Nevertheless, when we look at how much has changed in the last three years, it is hugely encouraging to see clear(ish) shared goals and ambitions spreading so fast around the world. More needs to be done, particularly around electrifying larger buses and trucks, but it is encouraging nonetheless.

The future is now clearly one of electric vehicles powered by a 100% renewable energy grid. And it is the emergence of electric vehicles as a viable replacement technology which has been key to giving governments the confidence to draw a line under petrol and diesel. Nevertheless, as with the phase-out of diesel, it is clear that some car manufacturers are embracing this change more enthusiastically than others.

The table below combines Greenpeace research with an Ethical Consumer score to identify the companies with the most ambitious policies towards all-electric offerings. Performance on this table has also influenced our best buy advice for cars.

Following the dieselgate scandal, UK sales of diesel cars have fallen by 17% since 2017 and by 37% comparing March 2018 with March 2017. With regulators no longer convinced by the promises of cleaner diesel, a range of tools are now being employed to discourage its use. Key amongst these are low emission zones inside big cities.

There is a corporate responsibility issue here too, and the table shows which have most enthusiastically embraced the idea that diesel is a technology of the past. The two biggest car companies in the world, Toyota and VW, sit on opposite sides in the debate which is why much of Greenpeace’s energy in this space is now targeting VW.

Lifetime cost: electric vs petrol

Although some of the greenest cars look expensive for new buyers, new research in the UK, US and Japan has shown that, over a four-year period, pure electric cars are already cheaper to own and run than petrol or diesel cars. The lower costs of electricity over petrol and lower maintenance costs (as the engines are simpler and help brake the car, saving on brake pads) are a key part of this calculation.

Next Green Car ratings

With more than 500 car models on the market at any given time, it is beyond the resources of Ethical Consumer to assess the comparative impacts of each. Fortunately, the UK’s Next Green Car website publishes high quality, in-depth and frequently updated information on just this subject.

Their database covers both new and second-hand models and it should definitely be part of anyone’s information gathering if they are looking to take environmental issues into account when buying a car. We have been given permission to use Next Green Car’s data to populate the table below with some information on the 30 ‘greenest’ car models as of July 2018.

The ‘Next Green Car’ rating is a bit like our Ethiscore and expresses a vehicle’s environmental impact as a score ranging from 0 for the greenest vehicles to 100+ for the most polluting. The score takes into account the three main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) as well as local pollution such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulates and sulphur dioxide. The impacts associated with the vehicle’s manufacture and fuelling are included, not just the real-world tail-pipe emissions.

As you can see from the table, the top 13 are either electric or ‘PHEV’ (plug in hybrids).

Choosing an ethical car

The scoretable gives Ethical Consumer ratings for all the major petrol and diesel car brands in the UK. All the companies on the table have Ethiscores of 8.5 or below. In other words, they are in our ‘heavily criticised’ class. The size of business you need to manufacture a car means that there are no small, niche, ethical producers in this market.

Carbon footprint

Exhaust-pipe emissions only account for part of a car’s overall carbon footprint, albeit a large part (around 73%). Manufacturing the car, as well as extracting and processing the fuel contribute around 10% and 17% respectively.
 

Car manufacturers are some of the world’s largest companies and biggest greenhouse gas emitters, which means they bear a particular responsibility to reduce their carbon emissions by the required 2% per year in order to limit climate change to 2° Celsius. But according to a recent report by the Carbon Disclosure Project, very few of them are managing this. The table below shows the eight car manufacturers featured in the report, their change in emissions, and position in the report, best to worst.

Environmental reporting

We have already seen how companies are performing against two key ethical issues of the moment: their commitments to phase out diesel and their ambitions to convert all their models to electric. In order for companies to have shown a reasonable understanding of their environmental impacts, Ethical Consumer required them to have targets on these commitments. Toyota and Fiat Chrysler were the only two companies not to lose marks, since they both had these and also met the other criteria for Ethical Consumer’s best ranking, such as having their reports independently verified.

Climate change

All car companies lose marks under Ethical Consumer’s climate change category for their role in selling products that emit CO2. Several companies also lose marks for other activities in the wider group: Honda for example is involved in aviation, and Toyota owns a company which is involved in the oil and gas energy sector.

Pollution and animal rights

The emissions scandal to date has implicated many of the companies on the table and therefore many of them now score worst in the pollution and toxics category. All the companies also pick up additional marks under Pollution and Toxics, and Animal Rights categories for using leather in car interiors.

Workers’ rights in supply chains

Last time we looked at the car industry, all the companies in the report scored a worst rating in Supply Chain Management. This time, one company, Groupe PSA, has received a middle rating. None of the companies’ policies mentioned payment of a living wage or restricting working hours to 48 hours plus 12 hours overtime per week, just as they didn’t when we last looked at the car industry in 2015.

Tax avoidance

Tax avoidance in the car industry appears to be rife with all but six of the companies – Suzuki, Mazda, Honda, Kia, Hyundai and Toyota – featured in the car report scoring worst for likely use of tax avoidance strategies.

Arms and military supply

Whilst there is now much less state ownership in this sector than in the past, there are still close relations with the military in many countries – this shows up in the Arms and Military Supply column on the tables.