Should I bother buying a gas powered vehicle with all the alternative energy sources arising?

Question

We're looking at buying an economy hatch that we can keep for the next 4 or 5 years (a Mazda5). It seems like every time I turn on the TV or surf the web I find that someone has come up with a new way to propel vehicles from "X" new alternative fuel. I'm definitely one for watching the oil companies burn (pun intended) so I love the prospect of owning a vehicle that runs on something besides petro, whether it's any one of the developing bio-fuels, or vegtable oil, or even water. But I also need to be realistic and practicle for my little growing family.

Will my new Mazda5 be obsolete in 5 years as a gas-only vehicle?

Answer 1

Buy a gasoline or diesel powered car.  I don't see any alternative fuels "arising".   I hear a lot of hype and hot air but I don't see the hydrogen or biofuel refueling stations being built in my neighborhood or anywhere else for that matter.

If you want to hit the oil companies where it hurts just be careful how you drive and use as little gasoline as possible.  If they start building refueling points for "X" alternative fuel and its less than gasoline you can switch over at that point.  My guess would be your Mazda's going to be ready for the scrap yard long before that happens.

Answer 2

There will be a lot of choices in two to three years.  My favorite is the Venture One.  The Toyota ABAT is an interesting truck.  The Honda CRZ may be on the market very soon.  The Prius may come out in several different models.  There will probably be several plug-in hybrids soon.  The Chevy Volt will come if they can ever figure out the batteries for it, but it may be $40,000.

Answer 3

at least buy a diesel car. i have a 2001 Jetta that takes diesel. i buy biodiesel which burns MUCH cleaner. it is significantly more expensive, but i think it's definitely worth it. my car gets about 42 mpg in town and close to 50 on the high way, so i only have to fill up about every five weeks. again, this all depends on how much you drive, but it's much better for the environment. i would discourage buying a gasoline powered car.

Answer 4

Your car will not be obsolete in 5 years.  The first thing coming to the market is the Chevy Volt (plug-in serial hybrid) and that's coming in 2010.  We'll see more and more of these types of vehicles in the coming years, but don't expect them to become mainstream anytime soon.

Answer 5

Gasoline or ethanol powered cars will be with us for at least another decade or so. There are many options coming but they won't be widely available for years to come. Tesla Motors, Chevy's Volt, the Compressed Air Car from Tata Motors, the Honda FCX hydrogen fuel cell car and others are very promising but with so many millions of gas-powered cars on the road, it will be a long time before a majority have switched over. You'll be able to retro-fit your car with some of these alternative energy sources, so I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Mazda. Obviously you'd want to get one with the best mileage or a hybrid if available, but the track record for hybrids is still too short to know what longevity and long-term resale values would be. If the gas savings is worth it that won't matter to you.

Answer 6

I don't think you have to buy a new car since there have been talk about running your car on water as well as hypermiling. You might want to look into the different options that you have. When you convert your car to water gas fuel, you can always change it back if the gas prices go down. Look at your options before you go out and spend any money.

I found a website at http://waterfuelconversion.googlepages.c... that gives four different reviews on this water fuel conversion kit. They even have a video that shows you how to do this step by step. I did not buy my kit yet because I am doing my own research to see if it is feasible or not. The video at http://waterfuelconversion.googlepages.c... is very impressive and with these high gas prices, I am tempted to try almost anything right now.

In my research, I found something about hypermiling. Someone says it is like drafting and possible dangerous, but there are some things that I like about it when it comes to saving gas; one of which is driving slower and not accelerating as much. The hypermiling website blog was at http://hypermilling.wordpress.com. I hope that helps.