So Long, Pump Monkey

This article reviews the use of the electric car around town, and save gas and short-trip abuse to gasoline-powered mainframe. With gasoline so cheap, making the case for CNG vehicles and home filling is difficult based on economics alone. A person would have to log quite a few natural gas miles before he would have recovered the cost of the home fueling station. Engineers seeing the big picture on the hydrogen economy know that hydrogen has to be made, generally either by electrolyzing water or reforming hydrocarbons. Most of the time, that will mean burning coal or natural gas to produce the electricity needed for electrolyzing water—or reforming natural gas. Natural gas with home refilling makes better sense for daily commuting. Use of an alternative fuel vehicle rewards the choice with a waiver for a single-occupant vehicle to ride in the HOV lanes. Plug-in hybrids can double fuel economy in city and highway cycles operating solely in the gasoline-sustaining mode. Trips made on batteries alone are, of course, pure EV allies. Plug-in hybrids remain experimental.