Review: The Sexy Green Car Show

Last week saw me pack up my various jute bags and head west for the first ever Sexy Green Car Show, held at the ever beautiful Eden Project. Now, I don't even own a car and get on just fine without one, but living in London this isn't a problem for me. For those more suited to the great outdoors, I know they are a godsend, so I jumped on the train and prepared to be dazzled.

What surprised me most about the show was how different my expectations of a 'green car' were from the reality. I'm not just talking about the look of them either; the show's name gave away the fact that they'd be stylish (I wasn't expecting C5s), and it's no secret that the hottest wheels on the road are now eco-friendly ones.

What was unexpected, was how green you can make a 'normal' car with just a few tweaks...

While plenty of electric, biofuel and hybrid cars are being built to solve the carbon problem, just as many petrol and diesel cars are being made lighter and ultra-efficient, dramatically cutting back fuel consumption, and providing a useful solution while more affordable alternatives are developed. I was amazed to learn how unnecessary gas-guzzling motors are and just how much they can be improved: the Polo Blue Motion (left), for example, has been made so efficient that it'll get you from London to Edinburgh on just £20 of fuel! It comes on sale in the summer, and it looks rather slick too...

One of the technologies represented at the show was, of course, biofuel. There are some issues surrounding this particular solution, but the shows organisers explained to me that many of the naysayers are ignoring the existence of some quite ethical biofuels which come from crops inedible to humans, so our cars won't steal food from the hungry. One such fuel is made from Jatropha, a shrub originating in the Caribbean.

I was particularly eager to visit the Ford stand, where they were exhibiting their 'vegetarian car', so-called due to its preference to plant oil over fossils. It looked much like a normal Ford to me, and indeed, it's the familiar Focus, albeit with a dietry adjustment. Available as the Ford Focus Flexi-Fuel 1.8L Duratec in a choice of 5 door or estate, and the Focus C-MAX Flexi-Fuel 1.8 Duratec, you can fill up the engine with any mixture of petrol or bio-ethanol, with no compromise to performance.

Not sexy enough for you? Try the Saab bio power hybrid car. Look - it's so pure it's even walking on water. This coupe is still at the prototype stage, but it'll run on a clever mixture of bio-ethanol and electricity, making its carbon foot tyre print pretty saintly, with 100% green energy. The idea is that it'll run on electricity until it needs a re-charge, at which point the engine switches over to ethanol while the battery re-charges itself. And if you can't find any ethanol (it's still relatively scarce in certain areas) it'll run on unleaded.

Still hoping for something with a bit more poke? Meet Lola, the biodiesel racing car that's due to burn some, um, vegetable oil at the next 24 Hours of Le Mans, making it the first car of its kind to complete the circuit. The brains behind the Lola B2K are D1, a biodiesel technology developer dedicated to pusing jatropha as the fuel of the future. The inedible-to-humans plant can be grown on marginal lands that are useless for food plantation and demands little water.

My personal favourite? Well, I think I really must be a hippy at heart. I fell in love with the nippy little Eden project buggy that ferried me to and from the show. Probably not the most practical of vehicles, but I certainly enjoyed the ride!