News-Record.com

I often wonder if environmentalists, car manufacturers, politicians and others who believe that the production of hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will solve our imminent transportation problems ever talk to real people. The people struggling to pay off their current gas-guzzlers, the folks who live next to junkyards (and don't want to see fields of abandoned and obsolete vehicles multiply) and those who whose prospects for affording a $20,000 Toyota Prius are slim.

In other words, who will buy these cars and what will we do with the millions of cars they replace?

Let me use myself as an example. I drive a 2003 Hyundai Elantra upon which I anticipate making car payments for the next year or so. I plan to drive the vehicle until at least 2013, giving me a few years without car debt. By the time the car conks out, I hope to have transitioned to a car-free lifestyle, but if I haven't I definitely want to pay for the next car with cash, regardless of the gas prices at that time. It makes no sense to me to have a $400 car payment to save some gas money when I can just be more judicious in choosing the places I drive to and have no car payment.

Now, if I can find a used Prius for, say, $5,000 at that time, then great.

Some groups out there that question whether the next-era vehicles we hear about are technologically feasible or economically scaleable, but their voices are not as loud as those heralding the dawn of hydrogen vehicles (which have been in development for about 30 years) and so forth.

One pickup truck marketed by hyrdogen fuel cell manufacturer Anuvu in 2003 cost $100,000! (I tried to access the company's Web site, but it doesn't work.) Another company called ZAP! has a three-wheeled sedan with top speeds of 40 mph for $11,500.

    It seems to be more environmentally-sound and less expensive to just convert vehicles to run on ethanol and biodiesel than to discard fuel-inefficient vehicles. The priority of car manufacturers is to make sure the production of vehicles benefits their bottom line, regardless of the shift in consumer preferences. Well, I argue that most consumers operate the same way. I need to save money on a net basis and if that means holding on to my Elantra as long as possible, then so be it.