What it's going to take for green cars to catch on (Saturated Market)

What it's going to take for green cars to catch on

There's a lot of buzz going on right now with cars and alternative fuel or electricity. Major car manufacturers are giving in and making cars (or promises of them) that use electric motors or experimental fuels to get us from point A to point B. They've gone from being made for environmentalists and people with dreadlocks and Birkenstocks to being for the sensible family that wants to do their part for the environment. And that might be just the problem.

Now, I'm not going to comment on the feasibility of the technology; I think we have a long way to go yet, but the progress we're making is encouraging. My issue is how to make environmental cars more appealing to the serious gearheads who are clutching to their V8 midlife crises. And you know? I think it CAN be done.

Right now, because of the type of people who buy hybrids and would want an electric car, they're all very sensible, very low key, very A to B. But the serious drivers, and even the 10 year old in all of us, don't WANT sensible. Every car lover, every driver who wants to drive around rather than drive somewhere, everyone who's ever gone to a car show or had a poster of a Lamborghini Countash on their wall wants something insane and vulgar.

Plenty of cars are considered cool for all kinds of reasons: they're fast, they're sexy, they have character, and more. Hybrids, however, are counting on being cool for saving money on gas, or saving the environment. But that's not quite cool in car terms.

Look at the poster child for hybrids: the Toyota Prius. It is, in my opinion, somewhere between ugly and bland. Not great. And particularly surprising, because I love the new styling on every other Toyota passenger car. They've proven that they can make fast cars with aggressive styling...and then they make a lump with a battery in the front. But this doesn't mean all enviro-cars need to be this way.

Take the Chevrolet Volt for example; still in development, this car is fully electrical, and according to one of the woman showing it at the auto show, they've got it up to 160-something horsepower already...and it looks like a serious muscle car! I would have one of those any day, no matter how many extension cords I would need. And that's the thing!

The biggest way to get green cars to catch on is to have them match or exceed the performance of gasoline or diesel; but I think we could speed things up a little if we could spice them up a bit. Even if it only hit 80 kph and I had to hook the battery up to an exercise bike every half hour, I'd buy an electric car if it looked as good as an Aston Martin.

We're still a ways off from totally clean, high performance cars...but I think we could do a little more to make them stylish. Because let's face it...green is cool, but green cars could be cooler.

Until next time,