7 Features Your Eco-Friendly Vehicle Should Have

Sustainability has become a more desirable and broad-ranging feature in recent years, especially among private motor vehicles. Transportation accounts for the majority of daily carbon emissions in metropolitan areas, so it makes sense to target that for reductions.

More people choose to walk, cycle, or take public transportation to work every day. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to leave the car behind all the time.

When you have to drive, it’s preferable to use a vehicle that includes eco-friendly features. If you are shopping for a more efficient vehicle, here are some of the top features to watch for.

1. Lighter Weight

Most vehicles designed to reduce impacts on the environment seek to reduce their weight below that of other vehicles. They achieve that by using light-weight metals that often derive from recycled materials.

Manufacturers forgo leather interiors and instead use durable cloth upholstery. Because the vehicle weighs less, it’s more aerodynamic and gets better gas mileage.

2. Emission Sensors

The Environmental Protection Agency has mandated that vehicles limit emissions to reduce smog and keep our air clean. A variety of emission sensors and controls can help your vehicle to maintain low emission standards.

As you look for more eco-friendly vehicles, check on the kinds of sensors and controls that will limit emissions to ensure the car or truck passes standards in your state with flying colors.

3. LED Lights

These lights are not only more energy- and fuel-efficient, but they’re also brighter. When your car illuminates the road better, that reduces the chance of accidents. They’re also easier to clean and change, which is a bonus.

4. Hybrid Engines

Hybrid engines automatically switch between electric mode and gas in order to save fuel. When the engine is idling, it changes to battery mode, and when you’re accelerating, it uses fuel while simultaneously recharging the engine.

The result is a whisper-quiet car that gets excellent gas mileage. The best part is, it actually gets better gas mileage in town because you spend more time idling, which is the completely opposite pattern from traditional all-gasoline vehicles.

5. Radar Alerts

Car crashes cost the nation billions in both health-care costs and cleanup. They typically result in the wrecked vehicles going into landfills, presumably for hundreds of years to come, and increasing pollution of the soil, water, and air.

That’s why accident prevention devices are also regarded as eco-friendly. Radar alerts are new devices increasingly installed in eco-friendly vehicles to warn the driver when you’re getting too close to a car in front of you, which can be useful in traffic.

In some instances, the car will brake automatically to prevent a collision.

6. Air Filtration Systems

The Tesla Model S has a medical-grade air filtration system that effectively removes 99.97 percent of particulate exhaust pollution, allergens, bacteria, and other contaminants from the cabin air. This is a feature that more and more makers of eco-friendly vehicles are planning to install in their cars.

You might not be able to purify all the air in the world, but you can have a substantial effect on your immediate surroundings.

7. Inflatable Rear Safety Belts

Another worthwhile method of preventing accidents and lowering medical costs is the employment of life-saving seatbelts. Ford has made the standard seatbelt in its hybrid vehicles inflatable so that if ever there’s a collision, the belt can provide more cushioning and coverage than a traditional lap-and-shoulder-harness belt.

This will reduce injuries, particularly to the head and neck. It’s also available in child seatbelts for automobiles.

Keep your eyes open for the latest innovations in vehicle safety and efficiency. You can do your part to reduce carbon emissions by included these eco-friendly features in your private vehicle. Check out this infographic from Hire Brid for more facts about hybrid cars.