-
Ford Focus and Fiesta Econetic
Back in 2008 Ford opted to promote its Focus and Fiesta Econetic range by taking pictures of the cars at its Dagenham-based Diesel Centre complete with a nearby wind turbine.
This is a rare example of using windmills to promote cars without some sort of hybrid or electric drive. Radical - but at least Ford does use wind power at its Dagenham plant, so it's not wholly cynical.
CO2 ratings: Focus (119g/km), Fiesta (116g/km)
New starting price (2012 Econetic): £16,445 (Focus), £14,445 (Fiesta)
Number of windmills: One
Tenuous rating: 6 windmills out of 10
-
Honda Civic Hybrid
The Honda Civic Hybrid is a petrol-electric powered version of the popular family hatchback.
Hybrids can at least claim to draw some power from the grid, and a proportion of that conceivably comes from wind power, so this one gets a pass on that basis.
CO2 rating: 109g/km
Used Price: £5,000-£14,000
Number of windmills: One
Tenuous rating: 5 windmills out of 10
-
Nissan Micra
This shot showing off a fleet of Micra superminis and as many as three turbines was taken within Nissan own wind farm, built at Sunderland back in 2005.
Nissan used to build the Micra at its Sunderland plant, where it uses several wind turbines to generate up to ten per cent of the plant's overall power requirements. Again, tenuous, but just about acceptable.
CO2 rating: 119-163g/km
New price range: £7,495-£13,600
Number of windmills: Three
Tenuous rating: 7 windmills out of 10
-
Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion
Volkswagen first introduced the eco-centric Bluemotion trim to the Polo city car back in 2006 as it joined the mark four model range.
While a Bluemotion may recover energy lost during braking - and thereby save cash - it's a baffling connection.
CO2 rating: 99g/km
New price: £9,990
Number of windmills: Three
Tenuous rating: 9 windmills out of 10
-
Vauxhall Ampera
Amongst the many press shots taken of the upcoming Vauxhall Ampera are a few featuring a conveniently place wind turbine in the background, as the Extended-Range Electric Vehicle drives along the road minding its own business.
The Ampera can be plugged into mains to charge its batteries, so this one gets a bye. Bet you never see one next to an oil well though.
CO2 rating: 27g/km
New price range: £37,250-£38,995
Number of windmills: One
Tenuous rating: 4 windmills out of 10
-
Citroen C-Zero
The C-Zero is an electric car that's so green it doesn't emit any CO2 whatsoever. Still one can't help but think that the C-Zero is a lot more suited within a big city rather than out in the middle of the open country, where there probably won't be a charging station or plug socket in sight.
Park your C-Zero next to a windmill all you want - when you run out of juice out in the sticks you're in a world of hurt.
CO2 rating: 0g/km
Starting price: £26,126
Number of windmills: Two
Tenuous rating: 6 windmills out of 10
-
Renault ZE range
The new Renault ZE range of electric powered cars (and van) aims to offer motorists a 'green' alternative means of transport. In this press shot the full line-up overlooks a spectacular photo-shopped landscape which includes five distant wind turbines, all of which face the camera except one, camera-shy maybe?
Fair use of wind farm imagery? Fairer than most, we'd say.
CO2 rating: 0g/km (all models)
Starting prices: £17,495 (Fluence), £6,690 (Twizy), £16,960 (Kangoo Maxi ZE), £13,650 (Zoe)
Number of windmills: Five
Tenuous rating: 3 windmills out of ten
-
Tesla Roadster
The Tesla Roadster may look like a typical fuel-guzzling sports car, but far from it actually as it uses a battery pack to drive an 185kW electric motor. This snap shows the Roadster accompanied by a whole army of wind turbines in the background. An overwhelmingly joyous picture for fans of such things.
CO2 rating: 0g/km
New price: £86,950
Number of windmills: Who knows?
Tenuous rating: 5 windmills out of ten
-
Chevrolet Volt
Here is MotorTorque's take on the 'car with wind turbine picture' featuring the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. The Extended-Range Electric vehicle shares the same platform as the Vauxhall Ampera and is in fact virtually the same other than in design.
Having been on the search for a good spot to take a nice snap of a car we can totally empathise with the photographer's lot. Short of drawing a diagram of battery cells there's not really a better way of illustrating such a simple concept.
CO2 rating: 27g/km
Starting price: £29,995
Number of windmills: One
Tenuous rating: 4 windmills out of 10
-
Honda Prelude
One of the more random additions to this already rather random gallery is the third generation Honda Prelude, a two-door sports car produce between 1988 and 1991.
Sold with a range of 2.0-litre engines, there was nothing especially 'green' about this car, but this shot is certainly eye-catching at least, taken on a snowy road near the coast, accompanied with as many as nine wind turbines.
Most meaningless use of a windmill yet? We think so.
CO2 rating: 209g/km
Price at launch: £8,000-£10,000
Number of windmills: Nine
Tenuous rating: 10 windmills out of 10