through a strategic purchase of Global Electric MotorCars (GEM), currently the largest producer in the United States of electric vehicles that can be licensed for use on public roads, producing approximately 5,000 units per year. DaimlerChrysler along with Ford Motor Company will soon be the first to sell neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) in the United States.Sales and leasing figures for battery and electric-duty light passenger vehicles for the last 4 years have risen from 39 units in 1996 to 1277 units in 1999 with those figures projected to be substantially higher for the year 2000.4 Honda has sold 2407 Insights since the car was introduction in 1999.5 By far the most popular AFV, the Insight can be credited with bringing an instant legitimacy to the alternative fuel vehicle segment of the industry. The hybrid powerplant has gained worldwide notoriety for Honda and AFVs thanks to the Insights 68 MPG highway rating. With a 150% increase in the price of gasoline in the last year, its hard not to notice the benefits of these emerging technologies.The Honda and vehicles like it are just interim technologies. Their main problem is that they still use gasoline and consequently produce the same OPEC dependency and emissions problems. Other AFV technologies are gaining momentum though. Indycars produce tremendous amounts of horsepower solely through the use of Methanol. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) powerplants use fuel types that produce significantly lower emissions than gasoline while still producing great amounts of power. Chevrolet and Ford have adapted this technology to some of their small and medium-sized trucks. The hazards of having a highly-compressed fuel on-board, however, are potentially great.Ideally, the development of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) will reach breakthroughs that give them the minimum specifications required by the average consumer. At this time, the Chevrolet ...
