Motorists overestimating CO2 generation

26 February 2009

New research has found that motorists are overestimating the level of CO2 emissions being generated by their vehicles.

Many motorists are overestimating the amount of CO2 emissions being generated in their used cars, new research has found.

The AA has stated that the average survey respondent believed that cars are responsible for 23.5 per cent of emissions, when in fact it only half of this figure.

Instead it is trucks and vans which produce 40 per cent of road transport CO2 despite only representing ten per cent of the vehicles on the road.

Edmund King, AA president, said: "Our research shows that motorists do care about the environment and do consider fuel efficiency when buying a car.

"However, there seems to be a 'green' band wagon that more councils are jumping on to penalise drivers based on their cars' CO2 emissions."

He added that councils may be better trying to encourage motorists to develop better eco-driving techniques rather than penalising those driving larger vehicles.

Among the cars generating the lowest levels of CO2 emissions are the Toyota IQ and the smart fortwo.