Diesel And Petrol Are Not The Only Choices As Alternative Fuel Cars Are Within Your Reach

With the ever increasing petrol/diesel prices and the falling economy, many people are looking for ways to efficiently run their cars in an attempt to save some money. In many situations, a vast majority of people are choosing to use their car as the primary mode of transport and therefore if savings can be made on fueling, then this topic needs to be explored further. Choosing an alternative fuel car not only saves you money on fuel but you can also be exempted from paying road tax if the vehicle doesn't release too much CO2.

What are the fuel alternatives for cars?

Hybrid cars: this is the most popular choice with many car owners as they use a combination of one or more sources to produce energy to power the car. The most commonly bought hybrid car is the Toyota Prius due to its size, cost and energy efficiency. More and more car manufacturers are also cashing in on this new way of building vehicles as an increasing number of people have started to think more of the environment before purchasing a new car.

Electric vehicles: electric vehicles have been around since 1992 most commonly in China, Australia and the US. Electric cars are good for shorter journeys and for those who need a small city car that's easy to navigate and cheap to run. Electric cars need to be charged daily to reach its full capacity of up to 100 miles in a go but in some car makes a quick charge of 3 hours can recharge the car up to 80% of its full capacity.

**Ethanol: ** this is produced by plants and most commonly sugar cane. Already popular in Europe, hire companies in Ireland are also considering buying Bioethanol vehicles to add to their fleet. Vehicles which can use flexi-fuel can have 85% ethanol and 15% petrol but due to the low suppliers of ethanol and limited number of filling stations available, this is not so popular with motorists.

**Liquefied Petroleum Gas: ** also known as LPG, can be used with a modified internal combustion engine usually costing £1500-£2000. You can switch between LPG and petrol whilst driving; the only downside is that most people in the car industry think it's a waste, so only 10% of petrol stations in the UK provide LPG.

Biodiesel: is a combination of rapeseed, sunflower and soybean oil. Biodiesel is most commonly used as an alternative to diesel as the past few years have seen prices soar. It is recommended that you use between 5-30% of biodiesel in vehicles but there are some vehicles that can run on 100% biodiesel.

In most cases, a new car is not needed as you can change the existing fuel to an alternative one by converting the fuel tank. In some situations, this can prove expensive but in the long term it can work out cheaper. Find an approved garage to do the work and check all the pros and cons before going ahead - you find that buying a converter can save you lots of money in a few years' time because you'll be spending less of petrol/diesel.