The New Green
By The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
January 18, 2008
Detroit automakers, fixated for years on the color of money, are finally recognizing another kind of green. They also are discovering that the new green may be the only way to attract the old green.
Hybrids, newer diesels and alternative fuel cars are taking center stage at 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The best part: Many of these cars are expected to be on showroom floors as early as the end of this year.
Former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker has created a four-door plug-in hybrid sedan with a lithium-ion battery that is projected to go 50 miles before the gasoline engine kicks in.
Saturn's hybrid SUV will go on sale in 2009, and a plug-in version is slated to be released in 2010. General Motors is promising a hybrid Silverado that will get 40 percent better fuel mileage than the all-gas model and still be able to tow 3 tons. Ford, Toyota and Chrysler all rolled out plug-in cars. And Mercedes rolled out its Smart Car and a compact SUV.
Even conventional gas-powered automobile engines are being tweaked through turbocharging and gasoline direct injection to hike fuel economy.
It's a safe bet that none of the major automakers would be displaying plug-ins or alternative fuel cars if crude oil remained at the 2003 price of $25 per barrel.
But with oil nearly four times that price, all automakers are being forced to look at ways to make their cars more fuel-efficient.
Earlier this week, the National Highway Transportation Safety Board reported that corporate average fuel economy averaged 26.6 miles per gallon on 2007 vehicles. That's nearly 1 mpg more than the 2006 average.
In pocketbook terms, that means a driver in a 2007 model traveling 12,000 miles at $3 per gallon of gas spent $1,353. If today's autos already met the 2020 federally-mandated CAFE average of 35 mpg, drivers would have paid $1,028 - or $325 less for the same amount of gasoline.
Put another way, for the same $1,353, you could drive an additional 3,790 miles - or from New York to California.
The changing automotive landscape isn't as much about government fuel mandates as it is about free market economics.
Automakers understand they are about to turn the page on a new chapter in the history of personal transportation. Those who produce green vehicles have the best chance to survive and attract both customers and investors.
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