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HotTopics Driven to Excess Is it time to question the size of your ride? by Ian MacNeill ARE YOU DRIVING too much car? According to Natural Resources Canada, a full-size, eight-cylinder, four-wheel-drive SUV from a major manufacturer slurps up, on average, 2,800 litres of fuel for a total cost of about $4,000 annually. Contrast this with a subcompact from the same factory sipping a miserly 1,280 litres at a cost of about $1,700 a year. Also worth noting: these figures don't reflect the higher, initial costs of the larger vehicle or the more expensive insurance premiums attached. Or that buyers who opt for even a mid-sized hybrid can get by on a stingy 760 litres a year for a mere – ka-ching – $1,000. Then there are the environmental costs. Our subcompact emits about 2,944 kg of CO 2 per year, compared with 1,748 for our hybrid and a whopping 6,440 kg coming out the tailpipe of of those needs. Typical examour scale-busting SUV. ples include the driver who Of course, sports enthusiFUEL FOR thinks they need a gas-guzasts, working people and those THOUGHT zling SUV because – on one with large families and other SHOPPING SMART when needs that preclude the possioccasion – they got stuck in buying a car can save bility of buying a small car the snow coming home from money now and for years to come. So: have every right to make the the grocery store. Then there's • Be realistic about real appropriate purchase for their the home-improvement needs; buy as small as circumstances. The question enthusiast who deems it absopossible to meet them. is, are most of us making reallutely essential to drive a full• Cut down on horseistic choices based on real, size pick-up truck to haul the power; bigger motors increase fuel needs. year-round needs? The goal is occasional load of lumber • Consider a manual to take stock and, if at all poshome from the hardware transmission. sible, go small, because the store. The list goes on, includ• Buying automatic? The savings – both in terms of ing those once-a-year skiers more gears the better. cash in hand and enviwho drive slope-friendly, full• Avoid unnecessary extras; roof racks, for ronmental pressures – are size, four-wheel-drive vehicles one, add drag and inenormous. The bonuses year-round, and the summer crease fuel consumption. aren't bad, either. Drivers travellers who also drive big who pocket $2,000 a year all year because a compact isn't big enough to tote the family and all the in fuel savings for a vehicle costing anywhere camping gear. And yet, in cases where needs from $20,000 to $40,000 off the lot, for are occasional at best, it makes a lot more example, have plenty of money left over for sense – both financially and environmen- a full-size, top-of-the-line SUV rental for that tally – to buy small and rent or borrow a spe- annual Sun Peaks ski trip – plus a lot more cialty vehicle as the need arises. spending money for fun on the slopes. It's a fair question, and an important one in a world where excess fuel consumption taxes a finite resource and adds unnecessary pollutants to the air we breathe. The truth is, according to BCAA research gleaned from focus groups conducted throughout the province, too many car purchases are based less on real needs than skewed perceptions istock, Ford Motor Company p39_HotTopics.indd 39 Size MATTERS ANDREA MERCER, a transportation emissions specialist with the Ministry of Environment's Climate Action Secretariat, a group charged with promoting policies and programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions GHGs in the transportation sector, explains why "right sizing" when purchasing vehicles is "the right thing to do." WW Do too many British Columbians drive "too much vehicle" for their needs? AM: I think that's the case in urban areas. There's obviously a need for those living in northern and rural areas to have larger vehicles to get them from home to work, but a lot of British Columbians are driving incorrectly sized vehicles. WW Why does it matter? AM: Quite simply, with larger vehicles the fuel efficiency isn't there. And when you're using more fuel you're creating way more GHG emissions. WW What does "right sizing" mean? AM: It means buying a vehicle that's going to suit the kind of driving you are going to be doing 90 per cent of the time — as opposed to the occasional event when you may need something larger. Look at it this way: Does it really make sense to be driving something that's bigger than you need 90 per cent of the time? Well, it doesn't, either environmentally or economically. WW Does "right sizing" apply to commercial and fleet operators? AM: It's even more important because those drivers are on the road more, in some cases upward of eight hours a day, five to seven days a week. So if they're not in a right-sized vehicle it's absolutely not making sense in terms of fuel economy or GHG emissions. WW Should we feel guilty if we don't buy a hybrid? AM: Hybrids are the most fuel-efficient, but the fuel-efficiency of all newer models is improving across the spectrum. The most important thing is to buy the right vehicle for your everyday needs. WESTWORLD >> W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 39 10/25/11 12:05:17 PM

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