As gas prices increase, auto forums are seeing discussions moving away from turbo charging and muscle towards greener issues such as alternative energy and gas conservation.
According to Nielsen Netratings, a company that delivers comprehensive, independent measurement and analysis of online audiences and consumer-generated media, the Top 5 topics among online gas & driving conversations are:
Need More Alternative Fuel Vehicles – 20%
Commute Via Scooter/bike – 19%
Condense trips/Drive Less – 16%
European Comparisons – 14%
Can’t Sell Vehicle, Poor Resale & Trade-in Value – 14%
The number 5 topic is an ominous sign for those people think of unloading their gas guzzler soon. In fact, the market is so flooded with juice-sucking vehicles now that many lease-buy companies are no longer supporting options for bigger cars as their resale value for the forseeable future is peanuts. In July, Chrysler said it it would stop offering leases on its vehicles through its in-house financing arm
I’m certainly no auto/fuel expert, but I think we’re about to turn a corner in the production of “greener” cars that run on alternative energy sources – and I don’t mean ethanol. The parade of concept cars that have been taunting us for so long will soon become production models.
The looming spectres of peak oil, oil supply disruption and climate change have moved the concept of oil being finite well and truly into the mainstream and car manufacturers are finally starting to respond with more than just lip service.
The average person increasingly coming to terms that peak oil will happen and happen soon, or even if it doesn’t, our fossil fuel addiction will choke us. Hybrid vehicles are no longer the realm of extreme tree-huggers, but are being purchased by folks who just want to save on gas.
I still believe that the only real option is the all electric car and *possibly* hydrogen power further down the track. There’s just so many clean ways to generate electricity such as wind power and solar energy. I can see a day when a section of many house roofs have solar panels installed just for transportation purposes.
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