But it’s not just fiscal reasons that motivate people to go green, the research reveals. Four in ten motorists would consider switching for the environmental benefits and almost half (48 per cent) are seriously concerned about the impact that full petrol cars have on the environment.  Despite this, only one in five of those questioned by MORE THAN know the amount of carbon dioxide that their current car emits.

Keith Maxwell, head of motor insurance at MORETHANinsurance, says: “Green motoring is going to be a massive growth area for the car industry as petrol prices continue to rise and concern over global warming grows.  We want to financially reward drivers who are taking steps to do their bit for the environment.”

The number of hybrid cars registered in the UK rose by 74 per cent from 2004 to 2005 and 1 billion hybrid vehicles are predicted to be on the world’s roads by 20205. According to the MORE TH>N research, one in ten of us either drives ourselves or knows someone who drives a hybrid car, a further 50 per cent would be interested in test-driving a hybrid car, and 65 per cent believe that we will all have to change our vehicles to more

Notes:

1. Research conducted by YouGov on behalf of MORETHANinsurance among 1,716 UK motorists from 4th to 8th May 2006.

2. 70 per cent of drivers would consider switching to a hybrid – equating to 22 million nationwide.

3. A hybrid car is any car that uses two or more sources of power to drive or provide propulsion. The majority of these are a petrol-electric car combination.

4. All vehicles in the UK are allocated an insurance group rating on a scale of 1-20. MORE TH>N will reduce the rating for all hybrid and Liquified Petrolium Gas (LPG) vehicles by two groups, e.g a Toyota Prius T3 is a group 7, but MORE THAN will classify it as a group 5: The lower the insurance group rating, the less expensive the insurance premium.

5. Source skynews.com.

6. The profile of a hybrid car driver is obtained from MORE THANs customer database of all those driving a Toyota Prius.

MORE TH>N is the direct financial services arm of Royal & SunAlliance.  It offers motor, home, pet, travel and life insurance as well as a credit card via the internet and by phone.  It also offers van, shop, office, business car, hotel, property, club and contractor insurance direct to small businesses.