Introduction

The festival of lights is very dear to every Indian. It’s a festival which brings joy, gorgeously lit streets and is a victory celebration of good over evil. However, overtime this festival has also turned out to be a worry thanks to the jam-packed roads, littered streets and of course, the absurd amount of loud crackers that ruin our already polluted environment. Although you can’t stop every hooligan from going overboard, there are ways to be more responsible yourself and in the process showing everyone how to save our planet Earth. Of course using eco-friendly products and not bursting crackers is a gesture but you can also prove your point with regards to the car that you use. Below we have listed cars which are either emission free or harm the environment less as compared to the fossil fuel burning bunch.

Eco-friendly cars

Mahindra e2o T2

Price: Rs 7.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)

CO2: None

The Mahindra e2o is the most eco-friendly car in India. Being an EV, it appeals to those with strong green credentials. The e2o makes for an ideal companion for city commutes with its decent 100km plus range and there's enough room for four. It's an excellent town car that will happily keep up with the traffic. Mahindra has also given the e2o loads of equipment to pamper its owners. However, the e2o isn’t a product for people seeking an everyday car. The price is quite steep and the limited range and long charging hours makes it thoroughly impractical. But what the e2o does that no other car in this country can is make you feel good about saving planet Earth with its zero CO2 emission.

BMW i8

Price: Rs 2.29 crore (ex-showroom Delhi)

CO2: 49gm/km

Without a doubt the BMW i8 is a technological achievement. The term ‘over-engineering’ is the perfect way to define this product from Bavaria. The i8 uses a small 1.5 -litre turbocharged petrol which puts out a very impressive 228bhp. This mid-mounted three cylinder motor is coupled to a 96kw (129bhp) electric motor which sits behind the front axle. This gives it a combined power of 357bhp and the claimed figure of 4.5 sec to hundred is just astonishing for a hybrid sports car. Of course being a hybrid BMW has gone to great lengths to offset the weight penalty - BMW has used a lightweight carbon structure for the body and aluminium for the sub-frames. All this results in a sports car which has emission levels as low as 49gm/km. Of course at Rs 2.29 crore not everyone can afford this sci-fi machine but for this money you get a sports car which is animal friendly but at the same time is great fun to drive.

Toyota Prius

Price: Rs 38.1 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)

CO2: 49gm/km

The Toyota Prius started the green revolution back in 1997 and in its third iteration this hybrid car is as environmentally friendly as ever. Like the i8 the Prius is a petrol hybrid but it feels like a bargain in comparison. But again the Prius is more like an everyday car with its large cabin and easy to drive nature. At its heart, the Prius is powered by a 1.8-litre 136bhp motor which seamlessly works in tandem with the 80bhp electric motor. Performance,however, is just about adequate and at Rs 38.1 lakh this eco-friendly car is not so pocket-friendly. But when you consider this full-sized car emits just 49gm/km of CO2(same as the i8), this car starts making lot of sense.

Tata Nano CNG

Price: Rs 2.58 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi

CO2: 62.5gm/km

Now, you might be wondering what a Nano is doing in our eco-friendly feature. The reason this small Tata car is here is because it has a small 0.6-litre two cylinder engine and it uses CNG as fuel to propel this unit. Gasoline engines using Compressed Natural Gas emit significantly fewer pollutants than petrol. As a result the Nano emits just 62.5gm/km of CO2, which is incredible for a car which costs this less and doesn’t have any significant technology to achieve this figure. The Tata Nano proves that going green won’t cost you a bomb this Diwali.

Maruti Ciaz Smart Hybrid ZDi +

Price: Rs 10.18 lakh

CO2: 94gm/km

As the name suggests, the Ciaz Smart hybrid is not a pure hybrid but is a sedan with an efficient diesel engine aided by tech to help it save fuel and in turn emit less pollutants. The 90bhp diesel engine is coupled to a start-stop system which comes in to play by shutting down the engine when the car comes to a complete halt and deactivates itself when the driver presses the clutch and allows the engine to restart. The Ciaz Smart Hybrid also gets a Deceleration Energy Regenerating function which sends the negative energy back into the battery during deceleration in order to store extra energy for the engine start-stop system. Although this is a common technology in expensive cars, Maruti has managed to put it in a mainstream sedan and is a welcome feature. This simple system also helps the Ciaz discharge less pollutants with a CO2 figure of 94gm/km.

Toyota Camry Hybrid

Price: Rs 31.92 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)

CO2: 121gm/km

The Toyota Camry Hybrid uses the same hybrid technology as its cousin the Prius and it proves that being kind to the surroundings can come in a more conventional package. The Camry Hybrid uses the same 2.5-litre petrol motor as the normal variant but here it is assisted by a 44bhp from the electric motor. When the batteries are sufficiently charged, this 1635kg car can be driven only in electric mode upto 40kmph, ideal for city commutes. Let’s not forget apart from being an eco-friendly car the Camry Hybrid is still a very comfortable full-sized sedan with loads of standard features. Despite its weight, power and comfort the Camry Hybrid still manages a very impressive 121gm/km CO2 figure. What also makes this car even better is the small Rs 3 lakh price difference between the normal and hybrid variant