Defining our Fuels and Technologies of Choice

I am a big supporter of electric drive. I was first intrigued by the experience of driving the Sears Die-Hard electric car concept following the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74. Then I was hooked when piloting GM's Impact3 proof-of-concept electric car in 1992 and Volvo's ECC turbine-generator hybrid vehicle in 1994. I was struck similarly when testing what would ultimately become the Toyota Hybrid System in a nondescript sedan in 1995, and again a decade later when behind the wheel of EDrive's plug-in hybrid.

Along the way, I've had the opportunity to gain seat time in all of the production electric cars of the 1990s and many production and prototype vehicles running on methanol, ethanol, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, biodiesel, and electricity. I've topped off many natural gas vehicles with a FuelMaker slow-fill refueling appliance over the years and charged a GM EV1 electric car every night during a year-long test.

Off the beaten path, I've also driven Malcolm Bricklin's circa-1990s Hyundai concept electric car powered by hundreds of computer batteries. Plus, there have been more than a few fiberglass-bodied electric specialty and kit cars from would-be manufacturers with batteries wedged in every conceivable space possible, regardless of safety and crashworthiness concerns. Most of these have been wonderful experiences. Others have been...well, let's just say they were eye-opening. All have added to my continuing education.

With the privilege of road testing these vehicles comes the responsibility of sharing the important details that surround them. What I've gleaned from years of experience and shared over many years is that some ideas are so good they will surely make it to market, while others don't stand a chance. In between fall a very large percentage of seemingly good—sometimes great—ideas that may, or may not, make it to the highway because of technical, production, and cost challenges.

There is no clear winner today as we continue to define the fuels and technologies that will power our vehicles in the future. So, we explore all of these technologies and fuels here at GreenCar.com. Our mission is to educate, to entertain, and to provide perspective on the disparate activities unfolding in the transportation field. We want our readers to understand that better choices are available now and also imagine what might be coming soon.

One of those vehicles seemingly on the horizon is the plug-in hybrid. While I'm a big fan of this technology, I'm also a realist who understands that the mass market will not pay an unsubsidized $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 over the cost of an already-pricey hybrid model for the privilege of driving on battery power. That said, these vehicles have come a long way and enjoy significant support. They will surely continue to progress until that point is hopefully reached when battery cost issues are resolved and they can be produced cost-effectively enough to sell in large numbers at the showroom. In the meantime, we will share the great excitement these vehicles are stirring and how amazingly straightforward it is to upgrade an existing hybrid into a plug-in variant, which we document on this site in the article, "Build a Plug-In Hybrid."