How do I make my car the most eco friendly.

There really are no mods other than a Scangauge or the Torque app that will make your car more Eco-friendly. Your best bet is to learn how to drive more efficiently to save oil and reduce toxins. Only do scheduled maintenance and when your OE tires wear out replace them with a very LRR Eco-friendly tire. Avoid using too man chemicals on your car like tire dressing and interior cleaners. Find a good waterless car wash to reduce water usage.

 

Yes, but you are a crazy Eco nut. And that is why you rock. Try this... Plug-In Supply | Plug-In Conversions for Prius and Escape... It's pretty much the most Eco friendly u can get. Do it!

 

I agree with the oil change and air filter. I waited a year or so to make changes to my 2010. And they were pretty simple... I inflated tires above recommended (went to 40/38 instead of dealer 35psi). and since I live in Chicago area, I put in a engine block heater... But not sure how "eco" that is for you in your area. I guess it depends where you live and how the electricity is generated.

 

Unless you change your own oil and stupidly dump it on the ground, used oil is recycled. The only measurable impact is the dirty filter which has to go somewhere. Landfill, recycled?

 

Park it and walk!

 

ride a bike and whatever you do be sure to never speak to anyone about your car being "eco friendly"

 

Combine the above two opinions:

Park
Walk
Bike
No Talk

 

I thought the least damaging and greenest car was a 15 year old one which has had its use. Surely it is better for the environment to just replace a transmission at 10 years or an engine repair at 15 years than buy a new car with all the negative environmental damage that causes. Interesting that cars in Cuba are still running 50 years on with no manufacturer backup and little in the way of suitable parts. OK their emissions and fuel economy might be a little off target but which is worse; higher fuel use and emissions or replacing a car every 10 years?

 

If the new car has 20% better fuel economy and emissions I would bet it's more eco friendly to buy a new car and again run it till something more eco friendly comes along (10+ years)

 

Including the emissions to build the car? the emissions to extract the ore, the paint, scrapping, the emissions shipping the car to many parts around the world? OK, car manufacture employs lots of people and is important in an economic point of view but the discussion was the most eco friendly in total. Surely an older car that is on the roads now caused the environmental problems 10 years ago. Replacing parts as and when required wouldn't require the same massive infrastructure required to make new cars to replace them every 10-15 years.

I'd love to see figures so I know the facts either way. This isn't just a Prius question regarding the NiMh batteries but just cars in general. I'd imagine if one knocked houses down every 10 years people would say you were mad, but scrapping often perfectly acceptable cars just because they're out of date style wise or not cost effective to replace a failed ABS unit seems wasteful. If it's seems wasteful it must be bad environmentally also?

 

LowCVP | Vehicle & Cars Carbon Footprint News | Lower Carbon Transport Updates

You can easily calculate how many miles you make at what consumption and your own CO2 emissions (mine is 112 g/km). If you are not believer in global warming take this CO2 values as energy used to produce.

 

But that's an average lifestyle. If the vehicle was kept 15, 20 or even 25 years years then the benefits increase compared to the 20% fuel consumption you refered to earlier. The emissions is also only half the story. The loss of habitat, localised polution etc.

Just seems to me that keeping a car 20 years is better for the environment than running it for 10 and scrapping it. And if the car was run for 25 years then better still? Those cars running in Cuba were built in 1959 and since then no other car has been produced to replace it for that one owner. An average Westerner would have had a replacement vehicle every 5 or 10 years since that date. Surely the 60 year old car is more beneficial as it is still using the same resources manufacturered in 1959 other than fuel.

I'm not a big hippie but consumer society seems wrong in an environmental way. I remember when we got our first colour tv in 1970 which was massive and very expensive but it worked well until 1989 when it went pop. I've had loads of tv's since as they only seem to last about 3, 5 or maybe 7 years these days. So which is better environmentally? The old tv which worked for nearly 20 years but consumed 500w of power or the modern ones which last about 5 years but did consume 180w or power but that has again crept upto 500w for the bigger flat screens.

 

Ok my 20% estimate was a little low, and let's assume when talking years we are talking at least 10,000 miles/year

old car 10 years + new Prius 10 years = 20 years and 200 k miles (320 kKM):
(140 g/km * 160 kKM + 5.600 kg) + (112 g/km * 160 kKM + 6.500 kg) = 52.420 kg CO2

old car 20 years and 200k miles (320k KM):
(140 g/km * 320 kKM + 5.600 kg) = 50.400 kg CO2

You are right 20% better is not good enough, question now is what 10 year old car produces only 140 g CO2/km that is 6 l petrol/100 km or 5.5 l diesel/100 km.

And don't forget even if you sell car early someone else will drive it it won't go on a scrap yard.

 

There is a carbon expense in manufacturing, packaging, transporting, storing, transporting to your home, then back to recycling center, then trucking to processing plant where this oil is reprocessed. Ditto for the filter which is not recycled , but likely burned. Recreational oil changing definitely has a carbon(and cash) expense. You can own a prius to be green, or thrifty or both...recreational oil changing is neither.
nobody on this board or anywhere else I've found can provide any evidence that oil change intervals(or transaxle fluid intervals) less than manuf recommendations provide any benefit(aside from relieving anxiety in the owner).

 

And in Europe a 10,000 oil change interval is low! Many cars stipulate 12k, 15k or even 18k mile intervals and we don't have any greater issues with cars breaking down due to engine damage. In fact, the warranty for cars here is often 100,000 miles or 5 years - not just hybrids or emission systems, so it appears manufacturers are happy with longer oil change intervals to offer that.

It's what you're used to I guess but changing oil every 3,000 or 6,000 miles is soo 20th century.

 

My MB had a 15kmi OCI and no drain plug in the pan! So MB reallllly doesn't want you doing your own oil changes! egads, think of the pile of iron filings in those oil pans! I can guarantee at this moment there is a MB forum participant dropping his oil pan to clean it out during his 5kmi recreational oil change.