A clean set of wheels? Not really

And here's why the new Lexus RX400h may not be as cuddly-cute green as it's being advertised to be. It's an object lesson in greenwash and looking beneath the advertising at those weasel compartive words; compared with what? "Emily Armistead, a climate campaigner for Greenpeace, is enraged that sections of the motoring media have hailed the RX400h as a 'green' SUV, seeing that its carbon emissions, while lower than its rivals, are roughly equivalent to that of a Ford Mondeo estate. 'It has marginally less impact on the climate, but it is demonstrably not a green car,' she says. 'You're still driving two tonnes around unnecessarily to do the shopping.' Armistead points out that the differential in Vehicle Excise Duty between SUVs and cars is tiny - about �100 a year. When you consider that it can cost �1,200 to get new tyres for a Range Rover, this is never going to persuade their owners to consider more fuel-efficient, less polluting vehicles."

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | A clean set of wheels: