get your green on

With several alternative-fuel cars available, which one is right for you?

The movement toward “green” cars, like with so many other technologies, is real, permanent and ever-evolving. But as with any distinct, diverging technology, it isn’t always easy to know what direction to branch out in.

Let’s establish one thing first: The least Earth-conscious move to make would be simply dumping your still-healthy, goodrunning, gas-powered car in favor of a “greener” one. Rule No. 1 of green driving: Keep your current car as long as you can, with regular maintenance. Nothing can beat the full use of a car that has already been built!

But if you’re shopping for a new vehicle and want to be up to date on the options out there, we’ve got you covered.

Hybrids

Hybrid vehicles, which alternate between electric power and gasoline, are the oldest form of “green” vehicle technology, if you ignore the fact that there were more electric vehicles than gasoline-powered ones in the early 1900s. Because the gasoline motor and other driving elements of the car charge the electric battery during a drive, there is no need to “plug” a hybrid in for charging. The e ciencies of a hybrid mean that, in theory, there is no di erence between highway and city driving. The Toyota Prius, for example, rates around 50mpg in all driving circumstances. Although it’s tempting to think of hybrids as “old” technology, engineers at VW and elsewhere are throttling up the e ciency of hybrids. VW’s goal is to reach 235mpg, which means a drive from Los Angeles to New York would take just one tank of gas. market, responsible for around two-thirds of all sales across their Prius, Camry, Rav4 and other models. The only other manufacturer that has a model with more than 5 percent of the market is Ford, with its Fusion and C-Max models, accounting for a combined 14 percent.

Electrics

Stealing market share from hybrids are electric vehicles, which don’t use any gasoline at all. Although hybrid sales peaked in 2013, garnering more than three percent of all auto sales, electric cars have continued to climb in popularity; combined sales of hybrids and electric cars hover around 3 percent of the total sales market.

Electric cars are essentially identical to gasoline-fueled cars, with the same speeds, acceleration, safety and performance. The di erence is that rather than stopping at a gas station to fill up, drivers stop at a charging station or charge their vehicles in the garage overnight.

One clear disadvantage is driving range, which due to battery size and/ or e ciency, generally spans from 75 to 90 miles per charge.

Tesla is extending electric range faster than any other manufacturer, with its Model S running more than 200-250 miles per charge, and its upcoming Model 3 battery promising 215 miles per charge.

Another disadvantage to going electric is the dearth of charging stations— after all, some days, you might need to drive more than 100 miles. However, there are eight charging stations in Ocala right now, and that number will go up, not down.

MOST POPULAR ELECTRICS : Tesla captures 30 percent of the market with the Model S and Model X and could expand on that when their economy Model 3 is released at the end of the year. The Chevy Volt and Spark EV account for 18 percent of sales, while Ford (Fusion Energi, C-Max Energi and Focus Electric) provides 16 percent. Another option is BMW’s line of plug-in hybrids, which combine a gasoline or diesel engine with an electric motor and a rechargeable battery allowing them to be plugged in and recharged from an outlet. The Nissan LEAF, an all-electric family car that has a 75-mile typical driving range, is another option.

Hydrogen

Toyota is noticeably absent on the electric car sales charts, and that’s because the company considers zero-emission hydrogen cars as the future. Company Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, considered the father of hybrid cars, notes that it isn’t the car technology that is holding hydrogens back (Toyota is already selling a hydrogen car, the Mirai.), but an infrastructure that encourages hydrogen vehicles—namely, fueling stations. There currently are just a dozen fueling stations in the United States, 10 of them in California.

Another drawback is that while hydrogen vehicles have no emissions, methane is needed to create its hydrogen fuel, resulting in a vehicle that has a similar carbon footprint as hybrids and electrics.

neighborhood electric vehicles (nevs)

If you own a golf cart you use to tool around the neighborhood or make a quick stop to the store, congratulations! You are on the cutting edge, as NEVs are the fastestgrowing segment of green rides.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a fuel (made up fully or partially of plant or cooking products like soybean or vegetable oil) rather than a category of vehicles, but it is one of the quickest ways for you to go green. If you own a vehicle that takes diesel gas, you can immediately switch to biodiesel fuels with no modifications whatsoever to your car—in fact, due to its superior lubricating properties, biodiesel will actually extend the life of your engine. You can even add biodiesel to existing diesel gas in your tank, with no ill e ects.

Availability of biodiesel can be tricky, but DriveBiodiesel.net outlines the fueling options for Florida drivers.