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.

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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.

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There are a variety of ideas with regard to alternative fuels, ranging from electric to those based on hydrogen power cells. The last one is still in development and a full sized model is yet to be created. The electric cars seem to be our best bet with regard to this and in that aspect, Hybrid cars certainly have a role to play, sort of an in-between to help us wean away from the gas-guzzlers. But the Hybrids that are in existence are not perfect, for one they do not provide as much mileage as one would like. Take the Audi A3, it provides something like 4.5 litres/100 km where as the Hybrid Toyota’s Pirus gives about 4.4. As you can see there is not much of a difference between the two.

Given that Hybrids are the way to go, the respective companies should start developing Hybrid cars as an alternative to the current models in the market, not just as a means to an end. That means fine tuning the Hybrid model to provide more mileage and the emissions cut, well, that is just a perk to using the car. With Hybrids selling at $32,000, the buyer may not be all that keen to shell out that amount if the gas-guzzlers prove to be more advantageous. Bottom line, when it comes to personal purchases, we all tend to look after only one thing, us. So if Hybrids are the cars to use, then they should prove to be advantageous when compared to any other model in the current market, otherwise, Hybrids may well turn out to be just a pipe dream.

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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

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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.

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This is a most welcome development and showcases the fact that ‘green energy’ is indeed the way to go forward. The singer plans to use his ‘electric’ car as a model to show the world that mass production of cheap variants of the electric car is a possibility. There are quite a few top companies that have already beat Neil to the finish line by revealing cheap hybrid cars, like the latest one to roll off the ‘Tata’ block. But Neil still plods on, having teamed up with Jonathan Goodwin a mechanic from Wichita with a decided flair for re-engineering the power sections of the big cars in order to increase their horsepower.

Neil Young’s 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible is undergoing a transformation of sorts and should become operational at the earliest. Electrical cars are great as they glide along on battery power but one of the major hiccups has been the battery issue. Since there are not that many shops that sell batteries for an electrical car, Neil may have to realize soon that in order to make the electric car universally usable, he may have to talk many of the gas stations to carrying an alternative such as the ‘electrical battery’. The best option for a green car to become viable would be the hybrid version at least for the near future. Maybe Neil will realize this in time and reconvert his electric car to a hybrid one.

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