Technology has taken a completely different direction. Cars already do what we need them to do. Hovering would be cool, but wouldn’t really serve any other purpose. The police are busy trying to slow drivers down because our cars already go more than fast enough. In fact, in many places there’s so much traffic that cars can’t use the speed they already have. Aesthetics are still important, but rather than buying the flashiest possible car, people are choosing streamlined, attractive cars. After market upgrades are made to blend in with the original – boring – look of the car. Huge improvements in reliability and safety have become more important than other considerations.

What do cars still leave to be desired? Fuel efficiency – even more practicality. The price of gasoline has soared in recent years, and it’s expensive just to drive around town. Cars that run on less gasoline, or none at all, are the hot sellers. Automakers have a lot of choices for reaching this goal, from hydrogen to biofuel to propane. All of these technologies have challenges, especially in keeping their costs down enough that they will be economically comparable to gasoline powered cars.

In the last few years, one technology has taken the lead and reached the car dealership: electricity. Hybrids were the first to hit the market and fully electric vehicles aren’t far behind. Toyota was the first to get its hybrid, the Prius, to consumers at a reasonable price. The other automakers followed closely on their heels. The Ford Escape, Infiniti M35, Honda Civic and Nissan Altima are just a few of the offerings. Hybrids don’t have to be small anymore, either, as evidenced by GMC’s Sierra and Cadillac’s Escalade. The government has encouraged the use of cars that consume less gasoline and don’t cause as much damage to the environment by offering financial incentives. You can go buy one of these cars today at your local Riverside Ford Dealer, Georgia Honda Dealership or Orange County GMC Dealership with no problem.

The next development we’ll see is the fully electric vehicle. They’ve been out in very small numbers until now, seen at car shows or as part of a fleet of cars driven by the local electric company. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are finally hitting showrooms. Limited range and battery price are not completely resolved yet, but clearly this is the direction that new cars are going.

Good old fashioned fuel efficiency is getting overlooked to some degree. A car can run on gasoline, but use a lot less of it. This is a technology that’s been slowly but steadily improving for many years. Look at the non-hybrid version of the Honda Civic, which gets 34 MPG or the Ford Focus with its 35 MPG highway. This was unimaginable back in the 80’s when gas was only $1.35 a gallon and we loved our V8s.

So while we’re unlikely to see cars like the DeLorean from Back to the Future or Kitt from the Knight Rider, cars will continue to evolve to meet our ever-changing needs. America’s love affair with the automobile is far from over.

Now you’re ready to go buy a brand-new fuel efficient car or truck!

The problems came when, four days after the official kickoff, the NHTSA estimated that most of the $1 billion originally allocated had been used. They got this number from the National Auto Dealers Association, who had polled its member dealerships. This points to a major flaw in the Cash for Clunkers program. There is no way for the NHTSA to know how much money has been spent.

Dealerships sell cars right now, on the spot, giving buyers credit for the $3,500 or $4,500. The buyer drives off in their new car and then the dealership submits for reimbursement. No one will know when the money runs out until the last dealerships are left holding the bag. This is compounded by the fact that the processing is very slow. Many dealerships are still in the process of getting certified to participate in the program. Meanwhile, they’re holding on to submissions for sales that took place as far back as July 1st.

If Congress approves the additional $2 billion, the Cash for Clunkers program can go on for  while longer. But the problem will still exist when the funds start to get depleted. They need to come up with real-time, electronic submissions so that a dealership will know whether funds are still available.

In the meantime, if you’re hoping to get in on this spectacular deal, go shopping this weekend. Car dealerships are planning to take advantage of the proposed $2 billion increase before it runs out!

What’s better than a car that runs on hydrogen?  A car that can run on hydrogen and gasoline.
Alternative fuels are good for the environment and reduce our reliance on a scarce resource, but they’re not always practical. For a while now we’ve had the technology for hydrogen cars, electric cars, biodiesel cars and more. Why aren’t they in widespread use yet?  Because regular people can’t use these vehicles to meet their needs as efficiently as cars that run on Conventional fuels.

What do regular people need? A car that is reliable, reasonably priced, safe, cost effective to run, and can get them where they need to go.  One of the roadblocks has been limited range for the amount of fuel a car can store.  A tank of gasoline can get you about 300 miles before you have to fill up. We’re pretty used to that. We don’t have to stop for gas every hour, and there are plenty of gas stations within our range.  Even if you’re travelling between cities, you can certainly find gas stations less than 300 miles apart.  What if your car ran on something else? First you have the issue of how far it can go on a fill-up or a charge. We need to develop ways to store enough energy in the available space with the available technologies. This presents a problem with some of the technologies, including electric and hydrogen. The second problem is availability of fuel wherever you might want to go. Until more customers buy a fuel, it won’t be cost effective for service stations to offer it.

So what’s the solution?  How are we going to move from conventional to alternative fuels, as we must do? Hybrids. We need cars that can run on an alternative fuel but also have a gasoline backup. They will greatly reduce our use of gasoline immediately, while providing the flexibility to use something we know we can rely on.

Mazda’s new Premacy Hybrid runs on Hydrogen and gasoline. This increases its range to about 125 miles, double that of the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE of 3 years ago. That’s still less than conventional fuel cars. Is it enough? For a lot of people it probably is. Especially when you consider the lower fuel costs and the fact that it produces far lower emissions.

But you won’t see any new Mazda Premacy Hybrids on the road in the U.S. This technology is still in the experimental stage. Mazda has just leased a few of these cars to Iwatani, an energy development company in Japan. They’ll use the cars for business purposes and provide feedback to Mazda.
Will hydrogen hybrids become a viable option in the U.S.?  It’s difficult to say. A lot depends on the advances that Mazda is able to make on hydrogen technology and on how well other technologies, especially electric hybrid cars, perform.

The Fiesta ECOnetic gets 65 mpg and emits only 61 grams of carbon dioxide per mile. Compare that to California’s requirement that a 2009 model car emit no more than 323 grams per mile. It’s been available in Europe for a couple of years now. Ford is making plans to sell the Ford Fiesta in the U.S. starting early in 2010, but it won’t be the ECOnetic. It will be a gasoline powered car that gets about 40 mpg.

The Ford Fiesta ECOnetic

At a time when the American public is clamoring for green gas sippers, why in the world would an American car company not sell this car in the U.S.? Well, it’s a diesel. If you add the production costs (these engines are currently manufactured in Britain) to the overseas shipping costs, Ford couldn’t offer the ECOnetic for a competitive price in the U.S. The cost of building a plant to manufacture diesel engines in Mexico would be about $350 million. Ford would have to sell 350,000 cars a year to make that investment worthwhile, and they don’t think they could sell that many in North and South America.

So Ford is making plans to sell a Fiesta in the United States, but it’s not the diesel ECOnetic. It’s a gasoline engine that will get around 40 mpg. Meanwhile, Toyota is selling its Prius like hotcakes and other foreign carmakers are gearing up to offer diesel vehicles in the U.S. By the time Ford finally finds a way to make it work, they’ll be way behind the competition.

If the federal government is willing to invest money in the American auto industry, I see a golden opportunity. Build a diesel plant in Detroit. It might take a few years to recoup the investment, but it would put Americans to work, help the environment and reduce our dependence on gasoline. And when the economy starts turning around and there’s a lot of pent-up demand for cars, an American car company will be in the right place at the right time.