"Greenpeace activists have been taking part in a series of protests across the UK aimed at disrupting sales of four-by-four vehicles."
In their defence, Mark Foster, spokesman for Land Rover stated:
"
Most of the vehicles we sell are diesel and the best seller is a Freelander which does 37mpg and its CO2 emissions are just the same as a Mini Cooper".
From their websites:
Freelander TD4 Diesel - 37.2 mpg combined and 205 g/km CO2
Mini Cooper S - 40.9 mpg combined and 166 g/km CO2
...so Mr.Foster isn't far off.
However, lets now compare the current Range Rover (the model featured in the BBC News photo) and a Mini Cooper S and look specifically at their urban figures which, lets face it, is where most Chelsea tractors get used:
Range Rover - from 12.6 mpg (supercharged petrol) to 19.6 mpg (TD6 diesel)
Mini Cooper S manual - 29.1 mpg
Now lets compare weight:
Range Rover - 2570Kg (that's two and a half tonnes)
Mini Cooper S - 1215 kg
I read recently that a child hit by a Chelsea Tractor at 30mph is twice as likely to be killed as by a 'normal' car.
And lastly, their comparative CO2 emissions:
Range Rover - 299 to 376 g/km
Mini Cooper S - 166 g/km
All this data is from the makers' own websites. Not such a rosey story there. You've had to be pretty arrogant (or Jeremy Clarkson) to not be able to accept that Chelsea tractors are pretty unfriendly to the environment.
BBC NEWS | UK | Greenpeace demos at 4x4 dealers