Call Going Out For More Fuel-Efficient Cars

Call Going Out For More Fuel-Efficient Cars

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Story Published: Jul 16, 2004 at 3:37 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:31 AM PDT

By Keith Eldridge

PIERCE COUNTY - The call is going out for more fuel-efficient cars and more use of alternative sources of energy. And now, everything from hybrid cars to hydrogen fuel cells are on display in our region.

Tacoma resident David Stern wants to give up his gas-guzzling truck for a hybrid. The folks at the Hybrid Evolution Tour demonstration are eager to show it off.

"I've doubled my mileage from my Nissan Ultima which I got about 24 miles per gallon," said one hybrid owner.

While Stern takes a test drive, Brendan Bell of the Sierra Club gives us our own ride. It's an electric motor backed-up by a standard gasoline engine. You can watch the engines switch back and forth on the dashboard computer screen.

Bell is taking this car on a west coast tour -- the Hybrid Evolution Tour.

"The Hybrids are a great car," Bell said. "We're here to show people that clean cars are a reality. They can curb global warming, save them money at the gas pump and cut America's oil dependence."

A few miles away at Fort Lewis, the Army and the commercial energy company ReliOn are showing off another new alternate energy source, hydrogen fuel cells. They are providing a pollution-free source of back-up electricity for running the air traffic control system.

"The cartridges each have membranes that provide an electro-chemical reaction from which we get electricity," said ReliOn marketing manager Sandra Saathoff.

Fuel cells don't always have to be big. They can be small -- small enough to operate your laptop computer. In fact, most anything that runs on a battery could be powered this way. But advocates say not enough hydrogen being produced.

The same is true for the Hybrid vehicles -- not enough of them are being made.

"The more people that say something about it and let the people who make the decisions know, that's the only way it's going to happen," Stern said.

That's the evolution these advocates are hoping for. They are hoping the more people talk about these alternative energy sources, the more chance they'll turn from novel ideas into a part of American life.

For More Information:

I Will Evolve -- www.iwillevolve.org
ReliOn -- www.relion-inc.com

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