Progress has been slow, and technology and cost obstacles remain, but the automotive industry is making strides in developing environment-friendly vehicles. With the looming specter of more stringent regulation of emissions and fuel economy, automakers appear determined to stay one step ahead of legislators through their own initiatives to develop greener vehicles. Moreover, they realize that going green can be a useful marketing tool.
"There's no silver bullet," said Edward Wall, DOE program manager for vehicle technology. "We need to have a broad portfolio that looks at all of these technologies: advanced combustion engines, diesel engines, fuel cells, and hybrids."
Cheaper hybrids
Toyota, which produces the Prius, Camry and Highlander hybrids, appears determined to remain the industry leader. Toyota recently announced it would reduce the price of its Prius—the best-selling hybrid—by omitting several features. According to the Driving Change Network, Ford Motor Corp. followed suit by cutting prices on the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids.
These price cuts may give consumers added incentive to purchase hybrids, which typically cost several thousand dollars more than the gasoline-powered versions of the same car. Up to now, federal and state tax incentives were the only way for consumers to defray some of the cost.
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