Yes, cutting the weight of a vehicle can save as much as 20% of its usual gas consumption. Lost among the various discussions on hybrids, electrics, going green and all other environmentally friendly vehicle manufacturing, the simplest physical truth lies – heavier a vehicle is, the harder and more fuel guzzling it is to move it. Despite all the hype about how the whole wold will drive hybrids in the future, it just won’t happen, simply because most people do need that SUV or pick-up they drive. Two recent studies conducted by Ricardo, the British design and consulting firm and Ibis, report fuel consumption can be reduced in varying percentages by followings several weight reduction strategies.

By keeping the same engine and reducing 10% of the vehicle weight, fuel consumption can be reduced as much as 3-4%, and if the engine is swapped for a slightly light weight version too, this figure can rise to 6-7%. Vehicle body weight reduction is mostly achieved by substituting metal body parts with their aluminum versions. The cost-effectiveness of these strategies also indicate cutting vehicle weight is the ideal way to ensure existing vehicles and new “green-friendly” cars achieve the necessary environmental balance.

After much hype, Nissan’s latest electric car hybrid is finally available for evaluation. Although it’s only expected to go into mass production in time to welcome 2010, it just seems to need very few tweaks here and there to be complete. Drawing in definite conclusions may be a little too bold right now, but the new NSANY looks good, feels good and drives good too. The NSANY is based on the Nissan Cube, a popular model in Japan. The NSANY will be Nissan’s first attempt at introducing hybrid vehicles to the world.

Lithium-ion battery technology will be used in these hybrids, providing significantly improved performance in comparison to the common-use nickel metal hydride batteries. The latest challenge facing Nissan is to start manufacturing emission-free and fuel efficient vehicles affordable to the masses, rather than create performance-engineered vehicles which guzzle fuel at incredible costs. Going green is no longer an option and it’s good to see that even multi-billion dollar industries are chipping in with their contributions to saving the environment.

We have all heard that electric is the way to go. Zero emissions, no waste products, totally green. Right? Well, maybe not. Yes, those electric cars do live up to the claims, but what about the big picture?

When someone drivs an electric car, they have to charge the car. Most people get their power from coal, not nuclear or other eco-friendly option power plants. Let’s say your home normally uses 200 kWh a month, caring your car will significantly increase that amount. Your power bill will increase, the demand you put on your local power station would increase as well. What if every one in your neighborhood decided to do the same thing?

If you are getting your power from nuclear, hydro or wind, that increase will have very little impact. What if you are getting your power from coal? The emissions would increase and the impact that you were trying to decrease, has once again increase.

What can be done:

1. Find out what kind of power plants are in your area
2. I f none are eco-friendly join forces with a group (or start one) that promotes cleaner power
3. In the meantime, ony charge your car when power is at the least demand

Oil prices have risen all the way to the stratosphere and are showing no signs of coming down, at least not to such an extent that driving will become a pleasure again. These are the days of ‘fuel economy’ policies and as such, we should all be taking a hard look at the electric car.

Our need for a viable alternative to the ‘gas guzzlers’ is more acute now than when Al Gore showed up with his film on the ‘Global warming’. There are those who believe that the car emissions are speeding up global warming and then there are those who think that it is all rubbish. But all the arguments and counter arguments aside, the high cost of oil is untenable to bear in the long run. With limited supplies and greater demand, it is unlikely that the price of a gallon of gas is going to come down. Maybe this is the right time for all of us to look at the electric cars or the hybrid ones at least as a more secure means of transportation.

For one, an electric car will not cost that much as there is no need for any fuel. The only requirement for an electric car to move from point a to point b is an electric battery. The initial cost may be a bit high but over a period of time, the car would more than make up for the initial cost of purchase. There are quite a few companies that have already taken on the challenge to mass-produce cheap hybrid cars for the general populace, and some of them have already done so. With OPEC not budging an inch on the issue of increasing production, this may well be the only option we may have so as to limit the rise of the gas prices. It is indeed high time that we all thought of another viable means of transportation to the ones that we already have.