Charity organisation Oxfam believe 21 000 lives were lost to climate change alone last year, saying the number of annual, natural catastrophes across the globe was over 1000 events in 2010, versus 550 events from 1990.
According to the Global Carbon Project, they believe these events are attributable to increased levels of atmospheric CO2. In 1990, 6.1 billion tons of CO2 were recorded in the atmosphere. In 2000, 6.7 billion tons, and in 2010, 8.5 billion tons of CO2.
Quite literally then, the fate of the human race depends on the outcome of this road test. Which is the greenest and most efficient: a hi-tech, third generation Toyota Prius hybrid, the Honda Insight or, just for a bit of a laugh, a small capacity, 1.0-litre Peugeot 107?
Over an identical test route – which uses the least fuel and produces the least CO2?
The route for the most thorough economy test ever undertaken in South Africa will start at Cape Town’s City Hall and run around the entire Cape peninsula in a two and a half hour, 114km loop.
The route is exactly half urban, as it dawdles into the Cape Town CBD, and half extra-urban, as it takes in more scenic climbs like Chapman’s Peak drive. Interestingly, the route runs along what was originally know as the ARCPR, or “All Round Cape Peninsula Road.”
The road, built between 1913 and 1922, to contain the rapid increase in motor cars at the turn of the century, was gifted to Cape Town by the province’s first Chief Administrator, Sir Frederic De Waal who helped conquer the seemingly impossible geology of the Cape’s granite rock.
And we’ll do this route all day, from 6am till 6pm, to get total accuracy, and use a handy R4250 Garmin Nuvi 1410, with its “Eco-route” monitor to calculate how much CO2 we produce.
TOYOTA PRIUS:
Overall, the final economy figures that resulted for the Toyota Prius are phenomenal. An average for the loop, calculated over the whole day, came to: 3.6 litres per 100km, at an average speed of 43km/h. That’s 3.9 litres of fuel used and 9.2kg of CO2 produced over an average loop. That’s according to the Garmin’s eco-route.
That’s 8 percent better all round than Toyota’s own claims. At times in start/stop traffic in the southern suburbs, with no petrol power required, the consumption average got as low as 2.7 litres per 100km. Our Garmin also told us we were stationary, for an average of 21 minutes over each 150 minute loop. That’s 7 percent of the journey for stop/start technology to make an impact.
HONDA INSIGHT:
On paper the Insight has it all to do. Its 1.3-litre SOHC engine combines with only a 10kW electric motor, or IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) drivetrain, and is not as powerful or sophisticated as the Prius’s 100kW drivetrain, using a 1.8-litre VVTi petrol motor. Honda’s figures of 108g/km CO2 are well below the 94g/km CO2 of the Prius.
The average final figures for the Insight: 3.9 litres per 100km at an average speed of 42km/h, using 4.3 litres over 114km, emitting 9.9kg of CO2. Which, I have to say, considering the perceived gap in technology between the two cars, is a very respectable return. It’s also roughly 8 percent improved over Honda’s claimed figures, just as the Prius was.
PEUGEOT 107 TRENDY:
Now for a little French supermini to upset the Japanese hybrid applecart. What will a decidedly simple but clean, lightweight, 1.0-litre, petrol engine return? Bare in mind this is the same basic engine you’ll find in the Citroën C1, Daihatsu Charade and the Suzuki Alto.
The little 107 doesn’t have a trip computer or a rev counter even, so the sense of an upcoming upset, and not knowing the figures, helped keep things exciting.
The Peugeot 107 returned an average of 3.7 litres per 100km at an average speed of 46km/h, using 4.1 litres of fuel, producing 10.2kg of CO2 each trip. The attendant at the petrol station closest to City Hall didn’t quite know what to make of the constant fill ups.
FINAL RESULTS:
1. Toyota Prius Advanced (R332 700) 3.6-litres per 100km, 9.2kg CO2
2. Peugeot 107 Trendy (R121 500) 3.7-litres per 100km, 10.2kg CO2
3. Honda Insight (R259 900) 3.9-litres per 100km, 9.9kg CO2
After three days in two of the most modern cars available in the world today, around a road that helped shape modern motoring as we know it, it’s ironic that the best performer was the least hi-tech of them all.
The little 1.0-litre, Peugeot 107, supermini is nearly three times cheaper than the Prius, by far the most fun to drive, and only percentage points behind both hybrids on green credentials.
As for the Honda Insight, purely as a hybrid technology vehicle and for everyday drivability, it is outclassed by a Toyota Prius that’s had more years in development. But then again it doesn’t come with the Prius’s price tag either and therefore does make an argument for itself, for those intent on having a hybrid vehicle.
However, one has to wonder, and I believe the results speak for themselves here, whether having a hybrid makes any sense at all for those of an eco-conscious disposition. I’m going for the cheap to build, cheap to run supermini – thank you very much. -Drive Times.