Greenwheels

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Using the Buyer’s Guide

Buying a new vehicle?
The Buyer’s Guide will help you to select the best vehicle for your needs, depending on:

What the Buyer's Guide shows
The Buyer’s Guide displays vehicles with a rated fuel consumption that does not exceed 7.0 litres per 100km*, and that are within 50% of the best in their class for greenhouse, calculated from the range of rated greenhouse emissions from best to worst in that class. Select the class of vehicle you want, and the Buyer’s Guide will tell you which ones are the best from a greenhouse gas perspective.

Note that purely electric vehicles (EVs) are not shown as they have no tailpipe emissions, and their CO2 impacts are related to the greenhouse impact of electricity generation in their region.

*The definition of a Fuel Efficient Car for luxury Tax Purposes: 'A fuel efficient car has a fuel consumption that does not exceed 7 litres per 100 km. This is as a combined rating under the vehicle standards in force under section 7 of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989.'


LEV Green Tick
Vehicles whose emissions ratings come within 25% of the best performer in that class get an ‘LEV green tick’. They are the very best available. Here, subsets of classes have been combined so that, for example, the best medium-size car will set the standard for the tick in both price segments. Note that for the tick, 'upper large' cars are combined with 'large' cars and all SUV classes have been combined.

City v highway driving
Greenhouse gas emissions are worked out with a laboratory test that uses a set combination of city and country driving. Soon, it will be possible to test separately for city use and country use, so you can work out more accurately the best vehicle for your driving.

If you mainly drive in the city, a hybrid-electric car may suit your needs. Hybrids automatically shut off the engine when the vehicle stops, and start it again when needed.

If you mainly drive on the highway, consider a new generation turbo-diesel engine. These are regularly among the most fuel-efficient in each class. For the same performance as a comparable petrol-fuelled vehicle, a modern diesel can deliver up to 30% better fuel efficiency. This means a 25% reduction in CO2 greenhouse emissions.

Photographs shown in Buyer's Guide
Please note photographs of vehicles are used for illustration purposes only and may not represent all models.

What do the ratings mean?

Source of data
All data on vehicle fuel consumption, air pollution and greenhouse ratings is drawn from the Australian Government Green Vehicle Guide.

While the Green Vehicle Guide provides comprehensive ratings based on air pollution and greenhouse emissions for all vehicles available on the Australian market, greenwheels.com.au only shows the best performers from a greenhouse point of view.

Fuel consumption (in L/100km)
The figures quoted are from a laboratory test intended to mirror real-world driving. You’re unlikely to achieve these figures when you drive, but they are valuable for comparison purposes. (NB: the Green Vehicle Guide replaces the Fuel Consumption Guide that previously provided this information.)

Greenhouse rating (in grams CO2/km)
CO2 emissions are based on fuel consumption. Fuels vary in carbon content so the fuel consumption figure is multiplied by a conversion figure for each fuel.

Air pollution rating
This is based on regulated emission standards. It helps you compare vehicles’ contribution to urban air pollution.

Vehicle not shown?
If a vehicle you are interested in is not shown then it is either not current or is not in the top 25% greenhouse performers in that class. If you wish to find out about its emissions then you will need to look it up on the Green Vehicle Guide.