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LETTER OF THE WEEK
How do I go green?
I’m in the process of deciding whether to take advantage of the current boom in trade-in values or to hold on until my BMW X4 reaches the end of its PCP contract in March 2023. It appears that I could currently buy the car and trade it in to make almost £5000 profit – very tempting.
I want to be environmentally conscientious, especially in view of the latest predictions on climate change, so changing to an EV seems like the correct choice. Yet the more seriously I consider the options of keeping the X4 or swapping it for an EV, the more confused I become.
There are two issues that seriously challenge my temptation to change to an EV. First, if I trade in my X4 for an EV, I’m not taking the car out of circulation: instead of me driving it around, someone else will be, which will have absolutely no positive effect on the environment. Second, it seems to me that if I buy a new EV, however environmentally friendly its constituent parts are, I’ve surely caused damage to the environment to a greater or lesser extent, through the energy consumed in its planning, design, manufacturing, marketing, use and maintenance. It would be better for the environment if it had never been made in the first place.