Cool green cars: still just a concept

What I learned about green cars at the L.A. Auto Show: Every plug-in hybrid concept car mentioned will go more miles per charge than the one mentioned at the last news conference. Oh, and every diesel car is THE cleanest diesel vehicle.

Take Volvo, for instance. The news conference was mainly about cool new safety features in the Volvo V70, which one could try out at simulation booths. Then at the very end of the conference, Volvo said, oh, BTW, we care about the environment, so here's a concept car. A plug-in hybrid with a 60-mile battery-power range. Sounds cooler than the Chevy Volt, except just like the Chevy Volt, this car doesn't yet exist.

The Chevy Volt had its own news conference, which had no new info beyond what Chevy has said before. The "news": They're still working on it.

Want another cool nonexistent car? Try the Volkswagen Space Up! Blue. Zero-emissions electric motor with a range of 65 miles, plus hydrogen fuel cell backup. When will it hit the market? Who knows -- the pilot fleet will get going next year.

What about clean-diesel? Volkswagen -- as well as all the other German car makers -- seem to be going this route. The Audi Cross Cabriolet Quattro, for example, is supposed to be "the cleanest diesel in the world." Apparently, "its average fuel consumption is a mere 7.3 litres of diesel per 100 km." I'm not good with the metric system, but Edmund's tells me that is 32.2 mpg. Decent, but not earth-shatteringly efficient.

The Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueTec Hybrid is also touted as "the cleanest diesel in the world," and considering the fact that it promises 44 mpg, this car actually does appear cleaner than the Quattro. When will it hit the market? Sometime after 2010.

And of course, there's hydrogen. Like the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell, with no available date. Like the Toyota Highlander Fuel Cell, with no available date.  Like the Honda CFX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, which will get "limited retail marketing" in summer 2008 -- a.k.a. it will not be available to the general public anytime soon, although, like the Equinox, some lucky drivers will get to try it out. Like the BMW Hydrogen 7 -- a prototype that happens to be at Wired LivingHome, but again, not available to the general public.

Once you get beyond the smoke machines, strobe lights and loud, bass-heavy music at every news conference, you start to realize there isn't a whole lot actually happening beyond "concepts." In many ways, the AltCarExpo was more interesting. Miles Automotive, at least, had plans to have some cars available next year -- and Plug in America was there to point you to some existing options for green driving.

I got kind of disillusioned, and decided to skip the Green Car of the Year award ceremony this morning. The winner? The 2008 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. Are huge SUVs that get 21/22 mpg for the two-wheel-drive model and 20/20 for the four-wheel drive model really green?

Photos by Siel

Comments

[Nancy]

Oh this is heartbreaking. This blog entry just makes me wanna cry.

[Rodney North]

Siel,
As always you really shine the light where none of the corporations want you to. Good job!
Since we can assume that all past car shows have been like this one (long on promises for great things to come . . . some day) it would be interesting to do a little research - say on just one company - and see how many, if any, of their promised eco-cars/engines, etc. from years past ever made it to a show room near you or me, and if so when. Like, don't I recall GM making lots of noise about their plans for an electric car years ago, and also everyone was promising fuel cell cars.