I drove a BMW minicooper yesterday, and although it was cute, I would not call 33mpg on premium unleaded "clean".........
Steve Spence Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter: http://www.webconx.com/subscribe.htm Renewable Energy Pages - http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/ Human powered devices, equipment, and transport - http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/2000/humanpower.htm [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Addison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> Cc: <biofuels-biz@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 9:23 AM Subject: [biofuel] So, You Want to Buy a Green Car ... Or Do You? > http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12917 > AlterNet -- > So, You Want to Buy a Green Car ... Or Do You? > Allie Gottlieb, Metro Silicon Valley > http://www.metroactive.com > April 19, 2002 > > If you're like me, and you are, you want a good, cheap, fast, safe > and cute car that can take you to work and back, and out for fun, on > little or no gas. You also need room to cart around your laptop, your > nonfat latte, a pal and your four-piece silver-sparkle Ludwig drum > set, which in my case is named Natasha J. Sparky. > > Since we've got so much in common, it makes sense to share car-search > secrets. I'll start. What I've learned about the latest electric, > hybrid and just plain cuter- or cleaner-than-thou vehicles that you > can buy or lease at this moment there are plenty of choices, > combinations and features. Sorting them all out is confusing but not > impossible. > > The ones accessible to me as of presstime were the BMW Mini Cooper, > the Honda Insight, the Honda Civic Hybrid, the Honda Civic GX > natural-gas vehicle, the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Rav4 EV, the Corbin > Sparrow, the Ford Th!nk, the Ford Ranger EV and the DaimlerChrysler > GEM. > > Idling Politics > > Here's another thing I've learned. Despite all the chatter about fuel > efficiency from the Legislature lately, and the attempts by various > cities to get their fleets on a greener track, this has been a > slow-going revolution with plenty of setbacks. > > Witness last month's rise and fall of the Corporate Average Fuel > Economy standards: Senator John Kerry's (D-Mass.) proposal to require > new vehicles to average a respectable 36 mpg of gas by 2015 did a > giant belly flop. SUVs get to be an estimated 25 percent more > polluting than other cars. Gasoline has drivers over an oil barrel, > and so, as they do in any time of war with oil-producing nations, gas > prices are going up. > > Despite all this, a good clean car is still hard to find. It seems > like we should have evolved more by now. For years, there's been hope > that cars will become greener in the form of research on cleaner > cars. The web is overflowing with information about "alternative fuel > vehicles" from the U.S. Department of Energy and agencies like the > Natural Resources Defense Council that push for fuel-efficiency > legislation. > > Car dealers, however, blame the public's disinterest for the > Greenmobile's underwhelming entrance into the market. Almost no one > pays any real attention to environmental ratings when buying a car, > the dealers say. Not like, say, the kind of cup holders it has, or > how the bike rack attaches or that all-important consumer issue: > color. > > And those fuel inefficient SUVs remain hugely popular, regardless of > the fact that they are extraordinarily polluting. According to > GreenerCars.com, SUVs pollute about twice as much as, say, my Civic, > which on average discharges 2 tons a year more carbon dioxide badness > than the Insight. > > "Although engines in general are becoming more efficient, smoother > and better-performing, the trend toward larger SUVs and pickups has > contributed to the average fuel economy dipping to its lowest point > in more than 20 years," notes Consumer Reports' 2002 auto trends > report. > > So that's the bad news, but there's hope. > > Frankenfans > > Existing green cars have their fans. According to a Department of > Energy report, last year there were nearly 500,000 alternative-fuel > vehicles on the roads in the United States. Of those half-million > cars, 10,400 were electric. > > Consumers dedicate websites to electric cars and half-gas, > half-electric hybrids, or frankencars. One fan posted a diary all > about his 1999 electric Sparrow on the Internet and has kept it up > for three years. Another self-described electric-car enthusiast, > Joseph Lado from Virginia (who doesn't actually drive an electric > car, evidently is dissatisfied with the way they are charged and is > trying to help start a company that sells better ones) summarizes > alternatives to Old Man Combustion. > > "We can manufacture a practical electric car NOW," Lado declares in a > column he sent out for publication. Lado touts regenerative braking, > used currently by the hybrids to recharge their batteries. He lauds > solar power as another recharging source. Lado seems an appropriate > representation of the electric-car industry. He sounds > half-reasonable, half-kooky. Another recharging idea he lists in his > column is the robot in the driveway: "It's either a robot arm or some > other mechanical device that automatically pops up and connects your > electric car to a source of electricity (i.e., an outlet)." > > Who's Driving Whom? > > Currently, car manufacturers that distribute in the United States are > producing cleaner cars. They have to because the Environmental > Protection Agency makes them. By 2003, zero-emission vehicles must > make up 10 percent of each major automaker's stock. However, > manufacturers apparently aren't required to make these cars entirely > available to the public. They only need to meet their quota of > zero-emission vehicles. Then dealers get to decide which cars to > push, and buyers get to pick the ones they want. > > Despite being shoved around by the EPA and CARB, car makers aren't > the innocent babes they might appear to be. They can design > problematic eco-friendly cars. These cars mostly cost too much, > because, industry reps claim, they're more expensive to make. > > Honda sales rep Kevin Brooks estimates that it costs $90 more per car > for a manufacturer to make a catalytic converter that cleans a car > enough to meet California's "super-ultralow emissions" standard, > rather than just the "ultralow." Manufacturers pass on the higher > cost of making cleaner cars to customers. (You might, too, if you had > to pay for say 10,000 cleaner cars.) > > The government doles out incentives for green car-buying. California > tries to appeal to drivers' yen to beat traffic with a carpool-lane > exemptions for electric and compressed natural gas (but not hybrid) > vehicles. Drivers can file for an occupancy-exemption sticker from > the Department of Motor Vehicles. The federal and state governments > also try to entice car buyers into the cleaner emissions scene with > thousands of dollars in tax breaks and credits. > > But some of the lower-emission technology, like powerful electric > batteries, is so expensive that the financial incentives seem > meaningless for those unburdened by wealth. For instance, you can get > $9,000 back after buying the RAV4 EV, but this small SUV costs more > than $42,000! > > Most of the cars I test-drove fall well outside my price range of > $8,000 to $10,001. Most also fell into California's two > least-polluting categories: Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle or Zero > Emissions Vehicle. The Cooper weighs in with ultralow emissions and > boasts the further distinction of being the only stick-shift I > test-drove. > > Yeah I'm Green ... If Green Means Cheap > > Most conversations about fuel efficiency in the news magically turn > into moral debates about the bad people who drive SUVs or the showy > liberals who can afford expensive statement cars. That's kind of > stupid given that, ultimately, cars are practical, point-A-to-point-B > tools. I think driving an electric car is pretty much like driving a > cell phone: the roaming limitations are highly inconvenient, and > there's always the vague lingering concern that somehow it will give > you cancer. > > When it comes down to it, my concern for the environment pretty much > disappears when I buy a car. Sure, intellectually I'm rooting for the > ozone layer. But I have to be able to afford a car before I can drive > it. And it has to work the whole way to my destination. And it must > look cool -- the way the Mini looked when Mary Stuart Masterson drove > it as Watts (a drummer; everything comes full circle!) in 1987's > smash hit Some Kind of Wonderful. > > Allie Gottlieb writes for the Metro Silicon Valley, where this > article first appeared. > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/k6cvND/n97DAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. 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