'Sexy Green Car Show' seeks to shame 'dirty' auto industry

A vehicle partly powered by seeds from a tropical tree and another apparently capable of getting from London to Edinburgh for little more than £20 are just two of the highlights of the first exhibition showcasing the world's greenest cars.

The "Sexy Green Car Show" opening today at the Eden Project in Cornwall is intended as an antidote to the normal motoring extravaganza aimed at impressing boy racers. The infamous petrol-thirsty 4x4 will be conspicuously absent - unless a spectator dares to turn up in one.

Instead of figures on the time a vehicle takes to get from 0mph to 60mph, there will be statistics on how little it will harm the environment. It will also seek to shame the auto industry, which was yesterday accused of trumpeting the virtues of "gas guzzlers", and lobbying hard against plans to impose stricter limits on emissions from new vehicles.

As the exhibition gets under way in Cornwall, Friends of the Earth (FoE) has unveiled research showing that most car adverts are for "dirty" vehicles with big engines and fast acceleration.

The green organisation found that in a two-week period some 55 per cent of adverts in national newspapers were for cars in the most polluting bands E to G, which emit more than 165 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre.

Friends of the Earth said the survey called into question the motor industry's insistence that they are producing greener cars, "but motorists don't buy them".

Among the vehicles on show is a Le Mans racing car with a massive eight litre engine, which can run on a mixture of diesel and "biodiesel" made from the seeds of the tropical jatropha tree.

Axon Automotive, a Wellingborough-based company, will make its debut at the show with an eco-friendly Caterham 7 sports car. Axon said that the vehicle would deliver a 20 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency, but a higher top speed and greater acceleration.

Volkswagen will be showing the Polo BlueMotion, capable of returning more than 72 miles to the gallon. The company claims it could be driven from London to Edinburgh for little more than £20. It emits just 102g/km of CO2.

Car makers are campaigning against EU plans to introduce mandatory targets to cut emissions for new vehicles. The objective has already been watered down, but the industry says even the weaker target is too tough.

Tony Bosworth, of FoE, said it was "little wonder" the car industry had failed to meet its voluntary target for selling more fuel-efficient vehicles. He said: "The industry should spend less time and money lobbying against targets to cut carbon emissions from its products and more time and money into building and promoting greener cars."

The eco-friendly showroom

VW POLO BLUEMOTION 102g of CO2 produced per km

CITROEN C1 109g of CO2 produced per km

VAUXHALL CORSA 1.3CDTI 124g of CO2 produced per km

VAUXHALL TIGRA 1.3CDT 16V SPORT

124g of CO2 produced per km

CITROEN C3 1.4I 16V STOP AND START 135g of CO2 produced per km

SAAB 9-5 ESTATE BIOPOWER 214g of CO2 produced per km(reduced by 50-70% if run on E85 bioethanol)

SMART EV Zero if run on renewable electricity

FORD FOCUS FLEXI-FUEL 167g of CO2 produced per km (reduced by 50-70% if run on E85 bioethanol)

SAAB 9-3 CONVERTIBLE BIOPOWER 203g of CO2 produced per km (reduced by 50-70% if run on E85 bioethanol)

TOYOTA PRIUS 1.5 VVT-I HYBRID 104g of CO2 produced per km

LEXUS GS450H 186g of CO2 produced per km

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