syrinx

I found a fascinating program that allows you to offset the effect of your car's carbon dioxide emissions by purchasing something called a TerraPass. The funds thus acquired are invested in renewable energy projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This effectively nullifies your car's CO2 contribution by reducing output from other sources. Ford has teamed up with TerraPass to market this idea to Ford vehicle owners. Apparently, Ford derives no revenue from the program.

tags: hybrid emissions ford escape renewable energy carbondioxide terrapass co2 pzev

The rear Hybrid badge
 
The charge/assist gauge
 
The battery heat duct

A short while back our car was destroyed by an idiot driving while on his cell phone. As the car was less than two years old we'd had no intention of purchasing a new car for many years. Now we had little choice. We did our research and found that hybrid vehicles were now a viable alternative. Since we have two large dogs, a sedan wasn't really an option. Unfortunately the Toyota Sienna Hybrid Minivan won't be available until 2007 and there are currently no other choices in hybrid minivans.

That left an SUV. Seems almost like an expletive, doesn't it? But our research showed that the available hybrid SUVs were more fuel efficient and had far, far lower emissions than most of their gas-only cousins. In fact, they were better in both respects than almost all standard sedans and minivans!

Now we had a path to follow. We looked at all available SUVs and ended up choosing the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV. It has the best fuel economy of the bunch and was the least costly. Unfortunately one still has to pay a premium for a hybrid vehicle, but hopefully that will change as more come available. We're very happy with our choice so far.

tags: hybrid emissions ford escape renewable energy