Volvo is going to become maybe the greenest car manufacturer out there, or at least they’re going to produce the greenest car on the streets powered by a diesel engine and an electric motor. The new V60 will hit Europe’s highways and will feature a fuel economy figure few have been able to brag with: 124 miles per gallon (1.9 liters per 100 kilometers).
So this may seem the best option from now on. No need to buy an electric car anymore, right? They’re too polluting and too expensive… right? The thing is Volvo isn’t going to be cheap on this, either. The Swiss car manufacturer is going to put a heavy price tag on this car: 57,000 euros ($75,000). But it does output only 49 grams of CO2 per kilometer!
Conspiracy theorists, any ideas? Why are the greenest of cars also the most expensive? To somehow compensate a balance that also lets others sell their stuff? I’m not saying anything here, but it’s weird and I don’t know why anyone should purchase a diesel hybrid having this price tag versus a purely electric car. I mean, the new V60 will only be able to travel some 30 miles on EV mode only, which only shows its small battery size and hence the unjustified price.
Car companies, fuel economy is for the poor, for the many, for the ones who can’t afford electrics, not for those who wouldn’t mind paying $75,000 for an S-class! This price promotes some kind of snobbery among the very rich, which is detrimental to the planet and in some strange way defies everything it seem to stand for.
However, Volvo is not to be blamed – it’s the market’s fault. They’ll produce 1,000 units in 2012 and hope that by 2014 they’ll increase the production to up to 6,000 per year. I am raged by the price, although I smell this is an experiment for future, cheaper technologies.
[via cnet]
