Ethically Kate: Tips on buying a sustainable car

Kate Hall explains that we need to rethink the way we address sustainable transportation. Photo / Getty Images

Q Any tips on buying an electric car? (I would love to cycle or catch public transport, but it’s just not possible with family and work commitments.)

A This might sound strange coming from a sustainability educator, but I think your question would be most helpful if it read “any tips on buying a car?”

Electric cars are not the end solution to our transport crisis. They are a great step in the right direction, but they can be impractical and less sustainable than everyone makes them out to be.

Consider how and when you need a car, plus when you will charge it.

You can buy second-hand electric cars for around $5k, however their range is often around 100km and may leave you with range anxiety or an inability to get to work and back. That’s not sustainable.

Investing in a $30k+ car may be financially sustainable for you, especially with the cost savings over time, but there is still a lot to think about.

Investigate the battery life of the car, consider when you will charge it (charging at off-peak times ensures you’ll use more renewable energy sources, as opposed to charging your lovely electric car with non-renewable energy), and think about a plug-In hybrid too.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles can run on fully electric mode for a short range, like local errands, and then flick into hybrid mode to use a combination of petrol and electricity.

There are all sorts of things to think about with electric vehicles.

The car industry is still working on the recyclability of electric vehicle batteries, the minerals used in the batteries are often mined unethically, and at the end of the day an electric vehicle may not work for you - plus a second-hand fuel-efficient vehicle can be even more environmentally friendly than a brand new electric car.

It sounds as though you’ve already considered this, but I encourage everyone to think about how they can get from A to B while dodging the classic one-person-per-car scenario.

Carpooling, hiring, co-owning, and borrowing can be the most sustainable methods of car usage for both your wallet and the planet.

I don’t own a car but I borrow one when I need it (a handful of times a year), take public transport, walk, bike, and say no to non-important commitments.

We all need to rethink how we do transport in a way that is accessible and convenient and avoid focusing on what type of car we buy.