America Must Develop Alternative Fuel Vehicles :: essays papers

America Must Develop Alternative Fuel Vehicles A Formula One race car accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in under 3 seconds. How could a car that goes 0 to 60 mph in 12 seconds ever be considered cool? The people at Engine Technology International must be impressed because they’ve crowned the gas-electric hybrid powerplant from the Honda Insight as International Engine of the Year 2000.1 The truth is, with a 95-mpg potential and a 110 mph top speed, the Insight is turning everybody’s head while at the same time giving environmentalists a beacon of hope that the conventional gasoline engine may soon be shown the door. The Sierra Club honored the Honda Insight with its Award for Excellence in Environmental Engineering. This is the first product award ever given by the 108-year-old environmental group.2 We’ve heard about the electric automobile revolution for years, but only now are those promises becoming a reality. With several models available right now from Alabama dealerships, the dawn of the alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) is beginning to touch every corner of the nation. But the most important thing about these new vehicles is their superiority in some aspects to the gas-only cars and trucks we’ve all come to depend on. No longer built just to â€Å"send an environmental message†, the latest breed of vehicle can perform on par with many of the conventional vehicles you see on the road today, while giving its owner the advantages of unbelievably high fuel efficiency and extremely long operating range. The Honda Insight Hybrid EV combines a small 1.0 liter 3-cylinder gasoline engine with a 144-volt NiMH electric motor giving the Insight a range of up to 700 miles, all at a cost of around $20,000.3 With the number of companies in the electric transportation industry embarking on bold new acquisitions, the stage is now set for a more robust and competitive EV market, offering consumers a wider range of alternative modes of transportation. DaimlerChrysler has positioned itself for the future through a strategic purchase of Global Electric MotorCars (GEM), currently the largest producer in the United States of electric vehicles that can be licensed for use on public roads, producing approximately 5,000 units per year. DaimlerChrysler along with Ford Motor Company will soon be the first to sell neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) in the United States. Sales and leasing figures for battery and electric-duty light passenger vehicles for the last 4 years have risen from 39 units in 1996 to 1277 units in 1999 with those figures projected to be substantially higher for the year 2000.