Cars
Who Needs Gas Engines?
Automakers are finally revving up production of low-gas and no-gas vehicles that go beyond hybrids.
By Mark Solheim, Senior Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, October 2006
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On the long list of troublemakers plaguing the world today, gasoline ranks high. It pollutes the air, warms the globe and makes us beholden to regimes on three continents. If nothing else about gasoline bothers you, the spiraling cost pinches budgets and fuels inflation.
Auto manufacturers have spent fortunes developing hydrogen vehicles, probably the most promising technology to wean us from oil. I recently drove Honda's million-dollar hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX, and GM has its own fleet of hydrogen minivans. But without a network to create and convey the fuel, the hydrogen highway remains a dirt track.
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Now automakers are revving up production of low-gas and no-gas vehicles that go beyond gas-electric hybrids. The ones most likely to gain market share don't involve tricky new technologies, says John DeCicco, who studies automotive strategies for Environmental Defense. He thinks the internal-combustion engine is here to stay but will increasingly run on biofuels -- from prairie grasses, corn and other plants -- a niche that has "serious backing" now, he says.
Below, we give you the lowdown on four alternative energies. You can also view our slide show of seven vehicles that don't need much -- or any -- gasoline.
Diesel
True, diesel is made from oil. But diesel engines produce more power and deliver up to 30% better fuel economy than gasoline engines, and they generate less carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. Unfortunately, high levels of sulfur allowed in the U.S. fuel supply have tended to clog exhaust-control devices and have confounded efforts to filter soot and smog-forming nitrogen oxides from diesel-engine emissions.
New U.S. clean-air standards that take effect on January 1 are changing all that. Refiners are removing almost all sulfur from the fuel, and automakers are adding filters to trap soot and installing devices that convert many smog-forming emissions into harmless substances.
For now, carmakers are limiting the number of diesel models sold in the U.S. because retooling the vehicles to meet the new clean-air standards is costly. Even Volkswagen, which has sold more diesel models in the U.S. than any other carmaker, is cutting back and plans to sell only Jetta and Touareg diesels in 2007. Mercedes-Benz will continue to sell its E320 diesel here. Jeep will add the 2007 Grand Cherokee to its diesel SUV lineup.
You'll pay a premium for a diesel vehicle -- typically $1,000 -- which is likely to rise by a few hundred dollars as a result of the new standards. You can also fill any diesel engine with biodiesel, made from soybean, corn or other vegetable oils. Biodiesel causes less pollution than petrodiesel does, and the crops used to produce it absorb carbon dioxide. But only about 600 stations, mostly in the Midwest, have biodiesel pumps.
E85
The 85 in E85 is the percentage of ethanol; the other 15% is gasoline. Ethanol is made from corn, so it's renewable, homegrown and spews fewer greenhouse gases than petroleum does. Also, some five million "flex fuel" vehicles, which can fill up with either E85 or gasoline, are already on the road -- mostly in fleets, but dealers sell them to individuals, too. And although these vehicles cost a few hundred dollars more to make, so far carmakers aren't passing on the extra cost to consumers. Among the flex-fuel models for sale are the Chevy Impala and Chevy Tahoe, the Ford Crown Victoria and the Dodge Caravan minivan.
Unfortunately, ethanol won't cure our oil addiction -- at least, not for years. The big sticking point now is that E85 is available at fewer than 800 filling stations, mostly in the Midwest. And the price varies widely, from about $2 a gallon to more than $4. When E85 is cheaper than gasoline, the retailer is passing along savings from credits available to the producer. Also, ethanol delivers lower fuel economy than gasoline because it contains less energy.
One study points out that even if every acre of corn grown in the U.S. were used for ethanol, it would meet only 12% of U.S. fuel needs. E85 will become a serious player when technology makes it cost-effective to turn wood chips, cornstalks and even prairie grass into ethanol.
