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The LA Auto Show is often a showcase for high-end concept cars that may or may not see the light of day in any way shape or form. While flashy and highly entertaining, such concept cars often do little to predict the way we’ll be driving in the near future. This year’s LA Auto Show was a little bit different, though.
Instead of focusing on futuristic wow-factors, the spotlight has been on a much more urgent and actionable facet of automotive technology: alternative fuels. The 2009 LA Auto Show brings us sustainable offerings from almost every automaker, including the much anticipated Chevy Volt. While it was nice to work towards getting rid of used engines contributing to our polution problem, creating vehicles like the ones shown at the LA Auto Show is what will make the real difference. Here’s a brief rundown of what saw the light of day this week:
Chevy Volt
The buzz behind the Volt began almost a decade ago – and now it’s finally here. The 2010 Chevy Volt production version of the plug-in hybrid saw the light of day at the LA Auto Show, and the promises of 40 miles of all-electric range are still there. GM expects to sell the car in California first – at around $40,000, less a $7,500 tax credit.
Toyota Prius Plug-in
While not nearly as far along as the Chevy Volt, Toyota also began spreading the word about its own plug-in version of the Prius, the car that scooped Chevy in the race to get right with the environment. The Prius Plug-in Hybrid, which will be tested in the U.S. in early 2010, is expected to provide 13 miles of all-electric travel with a top speed of 60 miles pher hour. After that, it turns into a 50 miles per gallon hybrid.
Mitsubishi i-MiEV
The diminutive i-MiEV, an all-electric Mitsubishi that you could just about slip into your back pocket, hit Japanese markets earlier in 2009. In spite of being teeny tiny, the i-MiEV is a four seater. It gets 75 miles per gallon and tops out at 80 miles per hour. The car is rolling out in U.S. markets later in 2011 – but more exciting is the planned PX-MiEV, a plug-in hybrid crossover that purports to get 120 miles per gallon. That won’t be here until 2013, however.
Chevy Cruze
Chevy’s got two horses in the green race. The Chevy Cruze takes the fuel-efficiency route and seeks to compete with the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic. The 2011 Cruze is expected to get 40 miles to the gallon.
Audi A3 TDI
In spite of all the hype about electric cars, a clean diesel car took home the Green Car of the Year award for the second year in a row. The 2010 Audi A3 TDI won the award for it’s “rakish styling” and 42 miles per gallon highway fuel efficiency. Last year, the VW Jetta TDI was the winner.
So far, the LA Auto Show has been a vast display of greenery. With just as many U.S. automakers in the game as foreign carmakers, hopefully we’ll see an alternative fuels revolution that sticks.
