Do These Kids Have the Alternative Fuel Problem Solved?

Lucas Laborde and his homemade EV, based off a Bradley GT II kit car. Photo from www.gas2.org

The folks over at gas2.org recently did a nice piece on six teenagers who have built their very own alternative-fuel vehicles. The vehicles run on electricity, solar power, soybeans… you get the idea.

Not long ago I would have hailed these achievements as incredible feats sure to embarrass the world’s automakers.

Now I realize that’s just silly.

Sure, the kids referenced in the story are ambitious young people I applaud for their passion, talent, and forward thinking. But converting your old pickup into an EV really isn’t anything new.

I did a little research on the topic and found this Web site dedicated to posting pictures of EVs that people have built over the years. There’s even a page here that answers some commonly asked questions about converting a car into an EV.

So creating an electric car that can go 40 miles on a charge isn’t that big of a deal. Creating one with an extended range, a quick recharge, reliable batteries, and a reasonable price is another story. Some MIT students have come close, succeeding on all but the low price side of the equation.

Makes me have a little more appreciation for the technology behind the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, assuming they make it to market as promised.

So will the kids of today ultimately solve the problem of alternative-fuel vehicles? They’re smart enough - just check out this guy, who at 18 has already converted two cars into EVs.

It’s kids like him who will solve the problem… just not while they’re kids. Let them experiment with EV technology, let them graduate from college, and wait for them to be hired by General Motors or Nissan. Once these brilliant kids are working for a company with the means to fund the research, I have no doubt they’ll be the ones who eventually break our oil habit.

We’ll just have to wait a little while longer.

I wouldn’t buy an electric vehicle that I couldn’t take on a cross-country road trip. Would you?

-tgriffith

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The Most Satisfying New Cars

What makes a car satisfying? According to AutoPacific’s recently published 2009 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards, a car is deemed satisfying if the owner would recommend it to a friend. Makes sense to me! They surveyed 25,000 new-car buyers and asked them that question. The results are below. If your car’s missing and you want to recommend it to your fellow CarGurus, let us hear it!

Most satisfying cars

Most satisfying trucks

There you have it! There are a couple of winners that make me wonder if someone, somewhere got paid off. The Dodge Nitro? Seriously? I rented one once and was tempted to drive it into a river and claim it was stolen, just so the next person would be spared driving it.

What car(s) do you drive? Would you recommend it to your friends?

-tgriffith

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Jay Leno’s Advice to Car Collectors

Jay Leno writes a column for Popular Mechanics that you may have read, especially if you have an interest in classic or collectible cars. In addition to his comedic talents, Jay is of course one of the great car enthusiasts, and his thoughts are always worth reading. For the May issue, he talked about what makes cars collectible and which ones might be valuable in the future.

The gist is:

• Buy cars you like; don’t buy them as an investment.
• Buy cars that are simple, like the original Miata; technically innovative, like the first Prius; or styling breakthroughs, like the first-generation Taurus.
• Buy styling goofs, like the Aztek, or popular “nerd cars” like the AMC Pacer and Gremlin.
• Buy cars that will generate nostalgia: the Cadillac CTS-V with standard 6-speed, or the Hummer (“the ’59 Cadillac of 2025”).
• Avoid all newer Ferraris, which will cost you an arm and a leg to repair.

1988 Buick Reatta

Now we’ll add our two cents. First, don’t just jump in, but get smart about the car collecting field and investigate current values. It’s easy to get burned.

There are lots of online and print resources you can rely on—e.g., blogs like Duffy’s Collectible Cars, print mags like Hemmings Motor News, Automobile Quarterly, and Collectible Automobile, and sites with pricing info like NADA’s Classic Car Pricing, which gives data on collectibles, special interest cars, exotic and muscle cars, etc. Listed are cars from Alfas and Allards to Zimmers.

1990 Mazda Miata

Implicit in Jay’s advice is another admonition: Buy newer cars and wait for the value to accrue. Unless you’ve got lots of cash, leave the early Cobras and the Packards to the pros. The collectible market is like any other: Right now, it’s mostly in decline, except for the really high-end cars, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad time to buy. Here’s one collector’s list of collectibles over the past 25 years.

Trust your instincts and your research!

Have you ever bought a “collectible car,” either because you loved it or because you thought it would appreciate? Tell us about it.

—jgoods

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Will Toyota Cut Prius’ Price or Let Honda Insight Be Cheapest Hybrid?

2010 Honda Insight

Looks like Honda is changing the dynamics of the hybrid wars.

The new Honda Insight, priced in the States at just over $19K, comes in well below the Toyota Prius’ starting price of nearly $23K.

Rumors are beginning to circulate that Toyota will cut the price on the current Prius to match the Insight’s, but there has been no confirmation of that from the bigwigs at Toyota.

Is a lower price on the way for Prius?

A price reduction sure makes sense to me, as the Prius’ reign as king of the hybrids is being challenged by the Insight and the new Ford Fusion hybrid. The other option Toyota has is to stuff all the technology it can into the Prius and hope buyers see the value and fork over more money for it.

That’s a tactic we know will happen, as the third-generation Prius is expected to offer, among other things, a solar panel on the roof that will power fans to keep the car cool when parked in the sun. I’m guessing that’ll be a popular feature among celebs in Los Angeles! (You can check out the third-generation Prius here.)

It’s also possible that Toyota will offer the Prius in two versions: one that is essentially the current model with a lower price that matches the Insight’s, and one with technology and safety upgrades priced at a premium.

One thing is for sure: Selling hybrids is going to become more difficult as competition stiffens and more diesels enter the market.

What do you think: Buy a hybrid or skip the hype?

-tgriffith

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