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Concept cars have gone from wild to mildDETROIT — In their day,

the jaw-dropping looks of concept cars such as the Dodge Copperhead, Chrysler Atlantic and Plymouth Howl-er merited rock-star treat-ment at auto shows.

Concepts have traditional-ly been car designers’ fanta-sies, loosely aimed at point-ing to the future of motoring, but mostly intended to fire up buyer emotions for the brand at the shows.

For maximum impact, they typically burst onto stage through clouds of fake fog to the whump-whump of blasting music. Photogra-phers mob them. “Swishers” — attendants with cleaning gear — keep them free of even a speck of dust or a fin-gerprint. Style mavens fixate on every curve.

Then, faster then you can say Fabio, they slip from the show circuit and auto mag-azine covers, displaced by newer, more cutting-edge concepts.

Today, however, in a more cynical age of downsized dreams and tight develop-ment budgets, the wild con-cept car — auto show eye candy — is becoming rar-er.

At the big auto shows so far this year, here in Detroit last month and now in Chi-cago through Sunday, there still are “concepts” being unveiled, but few multimil-lion-dollar flights of fan-cy. Today’s “concepts” are more likely to be mere flash-ier interpretations of the showroom versions of mod-els already green-lighted for production.

“We don’t have the dis-

posable cash to vent some of these out,” laments Ralph Gilles, chief designer for Chrysler Group. “A lot of us on the design committee sort of miss the crazy days.”

Examples of just how cra-zy those days could be can be found in a nondescript ware-house that Chrysler Group maintains in a rundown neighborhood here. Living out their old age inside are some of the best — and worst — concepts from an era when auto designers were free to let their imaginations go ped-al-to-the-metal.

Today, however, design-ers for Chrysler and other automakers find themselves pushed to create concept cars that whisper — or shout — at the coming look of actu-al production vehicles, and fewer pure design exercises. As concepts, they may lack conventional door handles, have lower roofs held up by

skinnier pillars than would pass crash testing and be fitted with fancier and more fanciful interiors, but they outline the basic car headed for production.

No wasted workDesigners say that while

they miss the fun of outland-ish concepts, at least they know their efforts these days won’t disappear into a ware-house. More than ever, the ideas behind concept cars are headed soon to dealer showrooms.

“We always design these (concept) cars with the idea we want to use them in the future,” said Kevin Hunter, president of Calty Design Research, Toyota’s styl-ing lab in Newport Beach, Calif.

His shop’s latest creation, the Lexus LF-LC, made its debut last month at the Detroit show, officially the

North American Interna-tional Auto Show. LF-LC is a sleek luxury sports car with a long hood and low profile that looks relatively close to a car that would not be out of place as a midprice offer-ing at a Lexus dealer. Among the concept touches were electronic doors that open without traditional handles, which could detract from the car’s lines.

“Is there going to be a door handle? Yeah,” said Calty designer Ian Carta-biano. But it if goes to pro-duction, “We’re going to do our best to get it out looking like this.”

His was a common refrain. Honda showed at the Detroit show an Accord concept and two Acura concepts, includ-ing its new NSX supercar concept — all “near produc-tion.”

General Motors had two entry-level sports car con-

cepts that could easily go into a showroom. Ford is trying to revive its Lincoln division with an MKZ concept that’s considered extremely close to the production 2013 model likely to appear at the New York Auto Show in April.

About the wildest car in the cavernous convention center was an off-road elec-tric pickup concept from Smart, the minicar arm of Germany’s Daimler, but even that idea wasn’t terribly far-fetched.

Now concepts come second

In the past, designers put a crazy concept on the floor to gauge public reaction. If people liked it, a toned-down version could go into pro-duction.

Today’s “concepts” frequently reverse that sequence. Automakers design the real car, then do a con-cept version. The concept is unveiled first to build excite-ment for the new model; then the less sexy, but more prac-tical production car shows up.

The point now is to serve specific purposes. While some are simply precur-sors to actual cars, others showcase a new technology, such as a diesel or electric powerplant. And the crazier ones aim to build buzz for the brand or model. “Every concept has a strategic mis-sion,” says Ed Welburn, vice president of design for Gen-eral Motors.

For the show here, GM created two rival practical but very different Chevrolet concepts of cars that would appeal to the youth market, with the intention of even-

tually putting one of them into production. One con-cept was a traditional red-blooded Detroit rear-wheel drive compact. The other was an import-style, curvy front-wheel-drive small car. “We’re gauging public reac-tion,” Welburn says.

Ford global design chief J Mays says he prefers con-cepts that eventually amount to a production car.

“When I got to Ford I was doing concepts that never saw the light of day,” Mays says. “Inevitably, when you do a wild concept, but don’t deliver on it, everyone is dis-appointed.”

Example: He points to a brawny, Hummer-like con-cept for a Ford Bronco off-road SUV that generated buzz a few years ago but nev-er went to production.

Now, he says, concepts rarely are done unless Ford can “make sure they are in line with the production plan.”

Honda has become known lately for concept cars that are virtually identical to the production cars. They are even referred to as a “pro-duction bridge.” The strate-gy runs the risk that rivals might try to copy a design, but the production versions tend to follow quickly, says Dave Marek, division direc-tor for auto design at Honda’s research center in Pasade-na, Calif.

Occasionally, Honda still will do a crazy con-cept, like the P-Nut of 2009, a bullet-shaped minicar with a glassed-in cockpit. Marek says it was worth-while because of what was learned, and he liked the cool

By Chris WoodyardUSA TODAY

NathaN DeNette /the CaNaDiaN Press

A BMW concept car is displayed at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto on Thursday.

See CONCEPT, Page 2

/ Monday, February 20, 2012 Tallahassee Democrat / OnTheMOve

factor. “The (front roof) pil-lars came in like a jet fight-er,” Marek says.

Concepts’ wild rootsMarek insists that such

fun concepts won’t go away entirely, having becoming such an ingrained part of the auto industry. “Harley Earl 101,” he calls it, refer-ring to the legendary Gen-eral Motors design chief from the 1930s through the 1950s.

More than anyone else, Earl made concept cars part of the automotive landscape. He drew inspiration from things such as early jet aircraft and rockets in creating a series of concepts with scoops, jet-nozzle exhausts and tail fins that captured America’s opti-mism of the 1950s.

Others tried to raise the extremes: Ford came up with the Nucleon in 1958, a concept designed to be powered by a nuclear reac-tor. Chrysler conceived of a car propelled by a gas turbine engine, like those found in a jet aircraft, and built a few of them. One is in Chrysler’s collection in the Detroit warehouse — work-ers still routinely fire it up. Among others is one in Jay Leno’s car collection.

Over the years, the mantle of having the hottest design house switched among auto-

makers. By the 1990s, it had squarely landed at Chrysler, where chief designer Tom Gale unleashed a series of concepts that moved styling in a new direction.

Some were so wild that they were destined to be only design studies, like the sleek Atlantic. Others actually made it to produc-

tion, like the retro hot-rod Prowler. The Howler is a Prowler knockoff concept that looks similar from the front, but had a pickup-style box in back.

Old concepts still inspire

Pride in the concept collec-

tion — and a profit streak — led to creation of the secret warehouse to house them. All of the famous 1990s concepts are jammed in, together with other significant models from Chrysler’s history, such as Indianapolis 500 pace cars and old Jeeps and Ramblers from before it got the brands in the acquisition of Ameri-

can Motors.Some concepts still live

fairly active lives, trucked out for occasional display at the Walter P. Chrysler Muse-um, which sits next to the company’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., owners events or even an occasional movie placement. Others just sit collecting dust in dark

corners. “There’s some stuff that hasn’t moved in years,” says Brandt Rosenbusch, the manager of historical ser-vices who oversees the col-lection.

History is everywhere. The concepts that preced-ed Prowler, Dodge Charger, Chrysler Crossfire and the LX sedans of the 1990s all are here. “Concepts do make it to production. We have liv-ing examples of that,” says Rosenbusch as he vigorous-ly pulls back tarps to reveal the shining beauties under-neath.

Chrysler design chief Gilles says he visits the ware-house for inspiration. The Jeep Jeepster concept, which he had a hand in designing, inspired a current model, the Jeep Liberty.

“In one place, you can see the heritage of the compa-ny,” Gilles says. “I encour-age my designers to go down there when they are stuck” for ideas.

Gilles, like other design-ers, says he never counts out a concept. Chrysler, for instance, tried out a more polarizing design concept for its famous minivan at the Detroit show this year, just to see how people would react.

GM’s Welburn also says don’t assume that just because a particular design seems wild that it won’t get built. “Because we haven’t done it in the past doesn’t mean we wouldn’t do it in the future.”

CONCEPTFrom Page 1

NathaN DeNette/the CaNaDiaN Press

A 2012 Hyundai Veloster, which won the 2012 Best New Design, is displayed at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto on Thursday.

Auto study reveals red state, blue state leaningsLOS ANGELES — Republi-

cans buy Kias and Democrats lean to Hyundais.

That’s the tongue-in-cheek election-year analysis of vehi-cle registrations by automo-tive research firm R.L. Polk & Co.

Polk looked at car registra-tion trends in so-called red and blue states, red represent-ing a higher share of Repub-lican voters than Democrats

and blue representing a Dem-ocratic-leaning populace.

“Kia’s market share is a full point higher in the red states, while Hyundai, its corporate cousin, captures almost a half-point more in the blue than in the red,” said Tom Libby, a Polk analyst.

Although it’s impossible to discern the political leanings of car owners based on reg-istration data, the divergence does point out that the South Korean corporate cousins “are appealing to different audienc-

es, a trend the management teams of the two makes would welcome,” Libby said.

The study found that driv-

ers in red states leaned to half-ton pickups: Their share of new registrations in red states was about twice that of blue

states. Libby said four of the 10 most popular models in red states were pickups, con-trasted with two of the top 10 in blue states.

“Also not surprisingly, the domestic brands do better in the red states while both Toyo-ta and Honda excel in the blue states, which are concentrated on the two coasts,” he said.

Overall, Ford is the most popular brand in red states — possibly because of the dom-inance of its F-Series truck, which was the best-selling

vehicle of any type nation-ally last year — and Toyota was the most popular in blue states.

The registrations also reveal some trends about the Japanese brands that many in the auto industry wouldn’t have expected. The Toyota Camry, the best-selling pas-senger car in the U.S. and the foundation of Toyota’s success in this country, has a higher share in red states than in blue states. Nissan’s share is a full point higher in red states.

By Jerry HirschLos Angeles Times

The study found that drivers in red states leaned to half-ton pickups: Their share of new registrations in red states was about twice that of blue states. Libby said four of the 10 most popular models in red states were pickups, contrasted with two of the top 10 in blue states.

OnTheMOve / Tallahassee Democrat Monday, February 20, 2012 /

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GM made record $7.6 billion in 2011DETROIT — General

Motors made a record $7.6 billion in 2011, driven by a $7.2 billion profit in North America.

A typical U.S. worker will receive $7,000 in profit shar-ing.

Revenue for the year increased 11percent to $150.3 billion and earnings before interest and tax was $8.3 billion compared with $7 billion in 2010

Overall, GM’s 2011 profit rose from last year’s $4.7 billion and broke the previ-ous record annual profit of $6.7 billion in 1997.

The full-year results were hampered by Opel, its Euro-pean unit, which lost $747 million — a $1.3 billion improvement but still the 12th straight annual loss in a market struggling with overcapacity. It raises more questions about the wisdom of reversing the decision to sell Opel in 2009.

“We grew share around the world,” Dan Ammann, GM’s chief financial offi-cer, told reporters Thurs-day. “Clearly, we have work to do in Europe and South America.”

Fourth-quarter net income of $472 million was flat from a year ago, but the profit of 39 cents per share was below

the 41- to 43-cent range ana-lysts expected.

The strength of North American operations means GM’s profit-sharing payment is the largest since 1983 when payments began. The payout formula was changed to become simpler and more transparent as part of last fall’s contract negotiations with the United Auto Work-ers union.

A typical Ford employee is eligible for $6,200 based on the $6.2 billion in operat-ing profit in North America in 2011.

Chrysler workers are eli-gible for $1,500. The Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker had an operating profit of $1.97

billion and about 85 percent was derived from North America.

GM’s payment has exceed-ed the amounts at both Ford and Chrysler only twice since 1983. The previous record GM payout was last year’s average of more than $4,000 each, but most years the amount was less than $1,000 and substantially below the other Detroit auto-makers.

GM’s 26,000 salaried workers learned Wednes-day that senior workers are being shifted to an exclu-sively 401(k)-type pension. While some can expect larg-er bonuses, that is not the case across the board. Sal-

aried workers’ compensa-tion is based on global per-formance metrics.

Ford recently told its 20,000 salaried employees in the U.S. and Canada they will receive bonuses as well as merit raises for the first time since 2008.

Globally, GM’s pension obligations in its plans topped $128 billion at the end of 2010. The plans are underfunded by $24.5 billion, up from $22.4 billion a year ago. The U.S. pension ended the year underfunded by $13.3 bil-lion, up from $11.5 billion a year ago.

Losses in Europe for the quarter were $562 million.

“Clearly the industry has too much capacity,” Ammann said. “There’s no debate about that.”

“We are working on the pieces of the business we can control,” he said. “We are in discussions with our stakeholders,” he said. But GM is not talking about planned moves to cut its own capacity.

Ammann described GM’s product portfolio in Europe as “the best it’s been in years.”

South America lost $225 million. GM has an aging product lineup and work force that needs trimming, but GM plans to launch nine new models this year.

By Alisa PriddleDetroit Free Press

Lexus tops as survey finds more auto dependabilityDETROIT — Expect few-

er breakdowns, squeaks, rattles or other problems with your car.

A nationwide survey of owners by consulting firm J.D. Power and Associates shows that cars and trucks are more dependable than ever.

Lexus was the top per-former in the survey released Wednesday, but most other brands also showed improvement.

J.D. Power polled 31,000 owners of 2009 model- year vehicles and rat-ed brands by the number of problems owners have experienced in the last 12 months. Problems can range from stalling engines and transmission issues to peel-ing paint and electronics glitches.

The top complaint in this year’s survey was exces-sive wind noise, followed by noisy brakes.

Lexus owners reported 86 problems per 100 vehicles. Porsche, Cadillac, Toyota and Scion rounded out the

top five. The worst perform-ers were Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Jaguar. Chrysler owners reported 192 problems per 100 vehi-cles.

The industry average was

132 problems per 100 vehi-cles, a 13 percent improve-ment from last year and the lowest rate since the survey began in 1990. The results are particularly surpris-ing since the industry was

in turmoil in 2009. Both General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC went through bankruptcy that year, and U.S. auto sales fell to a 30-year low because of the recession.

“Despite facing immense challenges in 2009, auto-makers placed a keen focus on delivering outstanding levels of quality, which they understood would be essen-tial to their long-term suc-

cess,” J.D. Power automo-tive vice president David Sargent said in a state-ment.

J.D. Power said 25 of 32 brands improved their scores, with Scion and Mini making the biggest leaps. Lincoln, Acura, Kia, Infini-ti, Ram and Jaguar all saw their scores fall from a year ago. Buick’s score stayed the same.

Toyota Motor Corp. had eight winners at the seg-ment level, the most of any automaker. The Toy-ota Yaris was the most dependable subcompact, the Toyota Prius was the best compact and the Toyota Tundra was the best pick-up truck. Toyota began a series of safety recalls in late 2009, and some 2009 model-year vehicles were included in those recalls, but that wasn’t reflected in the company’s results.

Ford Motor Co. had three segment winners, includ-ing the Ford Fusion midsize car and Ford Explorer SUV, while General Motors Co. and Nissan Motor Co. had two winners each.

By Dee-Ann DurbinThe Associated Press

The Lexus logo is displayed on a Lexus sedan in the show-room at Lexus of Kendall in Miami. Lexus is the top perform-er in a survey of vehicle depend-ability released Wednes-day, but most other brands also showed improvement in an industry that has reached his-torically high dependability levels.

The AssociATed Press


LIMA, Peru — At first, Lima taxi driver Mario Segura was disgusted by the thought of buying a Chinese-made car. He had doubts about the vehicles’ durability, service and resale value.

But favorable word of mouth, assurances that spare parts are plentiful and, of course, unbelievably low prices won him over.

“Little by little, I heard favorable comments,” said Segura, speaking in a Chery showroom in the Surquillo district. He had just plunked down $12,000 in cash for a new Fullwin XR sedan, half the cost, he said, of a com-parable Fiat or Renault. “It took a long time to decide, but I’m risking it.”

So is Luis Luna, a doc-tor just back in Lima after working for several years in Argentina. He had planned on buying a secondhand Jap-anese car. Until, that is, he noticed billboards touting low-price Chinese brands and listened as his relatives insist-ed that he kick tires at a JAC dealership, one of dozens of Chinese brands sold here.

“We realized for the same money that we’d pay for a crummy secondhand car that inspired no confidence, we could have a brand-new Chinese car with a two-year warranty,” Luna said as he finished paperwork on his new $16,000 JAC B-Cross family wagon. “I’m totally convinced this is the right decision.”

Similar buyer testimoni-als can be heard across Latin America these days, where Chinese cars with unfamiliar brand names like Great Wall, JAC, Brilliance and Sinotruk are selling like hot cakes. Chinese cars were intro-duced in Peru in 2006 and now one in six new cars sold here is a Chinese make.

There are no fewer than 90 Chinese car manufactur-ers to choose from, accord-ing to the trade group Auto-

mobile Association of Peru. The Chinese auto industry has yet to undergo the win-nowing process that, over a century of competition, has reduced the U.S. car industry to three big players.

The Chinese brands’

main selling point is, of course, price: New Chinese cars typically sell for half to two-thirds the cost of a com-parable European, U.S. or Japanese vehicle, said Gui-do Vildozo, an auto indus-try expert with consultants

IHS Automotive in Lexing-ton, Mass.

“What makes Chinese cars so much cheaper? Start with labor,” Vildozo said, noting that a typical Chinese auto-worker makes $300 to $400 a month, a fraction of the

$2,000 to $3,000 in wages that Mexican workers make or the $5,000 to $7,000 a month that U.S. auto workers average.

Another price advantage, said Jian Sun, a partner with AT Kearney business consul-tants in Shanghai, stems from the “reverse engineering,” or design and mechanical imitation, that many Chinese carmakers use in compet-ing models to save them the expense of designing new models from scratch.

Chinese manufacturers are entering the market as Latin American incomes are rising to unprecedented levels, flush from the decade-long global commodities boom filtering down to an expanding con-sumer class.

Augusto de la Torre, chief Latin America economist at the World Bank, said the region’s middle class now encompasses 30 percent of its population of 570 million, up from 20 percent in 2002.

In Colombia, where the economy is thriving on glob-al sales of its oil, coal, coffee and bananas, the increase in disposable income is especial-ly dramatic. Bank of Bogo-ta economist Camilo Perez said economic output per capita has nearly doubled in five years, to $6,700 last year from the $3,400 aver-age in 2006.

So it comes as no surprise that car sales are accelerat-ing. New units sold last year in Colombia totaled 325,000, a 28 percent increase from 2010. New car sales in Peru totaled more than 100,000 last year, up 26 percent from the previous year.

According to Scotiabank, Brazil’s car sales will grow to 2.8 million in 2012, up 4 per-cent from last year, but in a much larger population base than those of its neighbors.

The expanding new-car market is what attracted Chi-nese automakers, who see Latin America as a proving ground for its plan to conquer the world car market in com-ing decades. According to AT Kearney, China export-ed 800,000 cars last year but hopes to boost that number

to 2 million by 2015 and to 3 million by 2020.

The Latin focus is also explained, AT Kearney’s Jian said, by the fact that Chinese manufacturers are not yet prepared to tackle the U.S. and European mar-kets, which are more demand-ing in quality and emissions standards. The competition is less intense and the regu-latory restrictions are low-er in emerging markets, he said. China and these regions share similar road conditions, emission controls and safety standards.

(The domestic Chinese car market, where sales last year totaled about 18 million vehicles, is the larg-est in the world, far surpass-ing that of the United States, where about 12.8 million new cars and trucks were sold in 2011.)

Many buyers, like Anto-nio Benevides, a 26-year-old theme park worker in Bogo-ta, are first-time owners. In early December, he bought a new Chery QQ model for $9,000, two-thirds the cost of a comparable Renault he had considered.

“That difference in price is what put a new car within my reach for the first time,” Benevides said as he drove his car off the dealership lot near Bogota’s internation-al airport. “I’ve heard they hold together well, that they are cheap to operate and, as you can see, they are not bad looking.”

MCT

With incomes rising to unprecedented levels, car sales in Latin America have accelerated, attracting Chinese automakers. In this 2009 photo, imported cars are seen at the Rio de Janeiro port.

In Latin America, Chinese cars are gaining buyersBy Adriana Leon and Chris KraulLos Angeles Times

The Chinese brands’ main selling point is, of course, price: New Chinese cars typically sell for half to two-thirds the cost of a com-parable Europe-an, U.S. or Japa-nese vehicle, said Guido Vildozo.


Electric cars, no longer an oddity, make few inroads on market

CHICAGO — In the early days of the electric vehicle, they called it “opportunity charging.” You plugged in wherever you could.

“Laundromats, gas sta-tions that have an outlet, car washes, hotels, church-es, friends’ houses ... every-where and everything,” said Todd Dore, a North River-side, Ill., resident who con-verted his first gas vehicle to electric in 2003.

With the delivery of the all-electric Nissan Leaf and plug-in Chevy Volt to Chi-cago area early adopters in late 2011, Dore isn’t the only pioneer getting around with-out gasoline.

Drivers can choose from more than 100 places to charge up in the area to eliminate so-called range anxiety (the fear of being stranded with no juice left in the battery). And for the first time, the charging sta-tions in his downtown park-ing garage are frequently in use when he pulls up.

“Any given week there are more electric vehicles want-ing to charge than there are charging stations,” he said. “This is my nirvana. These are the days I’ve wanted to see for the last 10 years.”

Take a spin around the Chicago Auto Show, which opened to the public Friday, and you’ll find no shortage of vehicles getting an electric boost. There are hybrids that use gas engine to charge the battery, hybrids that have sockets for plugging in and, of course, totally electric vehicles. It’s enough to make a formerly unique concept seem almost ordinary.

Even several tried-and-true models on the show-room floor now offer various levels of electrification.

The 2013 Ford Fusion — hitting the market this fall — comes available as a hybrid, electric plug-in or regular old internal combus-tion. Beginning this March, hybrid granddaddy Toyota Prius is offering a plug-in

in some states rated at 95 miles per gallon (equivalent) that, when charged, would allow the vehicle to run on battery power longer and at higher speeds.

But if there’s a full-blown revolution coming, it isn’t here yet. While the hybrid market is growing, in 2012 it comprises just 2.46 per-cent of the overall market. Electric vehicle sales rep-resent less than 1 percent, according to industry watch-er Edmunds.com.

“We’re in the covered-wag-on days of this industry,” said Michelle Krebs, a senior ana-lyst with Edmunds. “We’re in a pioneering time.”

Electric vehicles are still a hard sell for the average consumer. The price tag is high, and the lower fuel costs don’t immediately make up the difference. Charging sta-tions are available but not on every corner, and most take hours, instead of minutes. Even the best-laid plans can leave some motorists doing just about anything to hold their battery’s charge, par-ticularly in cold weather.

Just ask Paul Beeker, 40, who lives in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood. He only had his Nissan Leaf a month before he traded it in for a Chevy Volt. He’d paid $38,000 for the Leaf and managed to get $37,000 back at the Chevy dealer.

In the cold(ish) Chica-go weather, he was getting about 60 miles range on a charge. To get home from Morton Arboretum with their two small children, he and his wife were forced to drive with the heat off and at lower speeds to conserve battery power.

“With the Volt, if you have something unexpected come up, you just go,” he said. The Volt is a plug-in vehicle that switches to gasoline if bat-tery power runs out, extend-ing its range beyond that of a fully electric vehicle. “We thought that if we had a lon-ger trip we would just rent a car, but in practice, we found we didn’t do it.”

In the Volt, Becker has

managed to stay on bat-tery power most of the time, charging up as often as possible. The benefit: In electric mode, he said he’s paying about 20 cents every 30 miles by charging up at night at a 220V charger he had installed on the outside of his house. In his old Toyo-ta Matrix, it cost about $3.50 to go 30 miles on gasoline.

But with the price tag for new plug-ins still in the $30,000-$50,000 range, driv-ers are choosing to purchase electrics for reasons other than economics.

“Most of the action in the car market is under $30,000,” said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and execu-tive market analyst for Kel-ley Blue Book. “So you’re hard-pressed to find a whole lot of demand. The Volt cer-tainly isn’t under $30,000, and the Leaf in terms of the package is compatible with vehicles that are ($7,000 to $10,000) less expensive and offer unlimited range.”

“It’s expensive to be green, and it may not really pay for itself, but I like the coolness of it,” said Martin Howard, a senior systems analyst at

Hallmark Data Systems in Skokie, Ill., who bought the first Nissan Leaf to be pur-chased at the Bob Rohrman’s Arlington (Ill.) Nissan deal-ership.

On a typical day, Howard said, he turns on the car’s heater remotely from the computer in his kitchen 10 minutes before he leaves for his 12-mile drive to work. He does the same thing 10 min-utes before leaving work to return home. He didn’t both-er getting a faster charger installed in his garage. He just uses the typical 120V outlet, saying it saves him about $1,000 it would cost to install a 220V charger.

So far, Howard hasn’t made use of any public charging stations — which have been popping up around Chicago thanks to a govern-ment-subsidized partner-ship. “It’s not an easy way to recharge,” he said. “You have to drive to it and sit there for an hour or two. All the ones that are avail-able are 220V, and that’s 14 miles for one hour’s worth of charge,” he said.

“A charging station is great as long as it’s part

of your destination. But it doesn’t make sense along the way,” said Rob Peter-son, a spokesman for GM’s Chevy Volt.

Despite taking his chanc-es, Howard said he’s only had one close call with run-ning out of battery power. It occurred while he was driv-ing back from his mother-in-law’s house in Downers Grove, Ill., and he made it home by turning off the heat in 37-degree weather.

“The initial display says I have 105 miles, but it imme-diately starts going down as it realizes it is cold outside,” he said.

Krebs at Edmunds said we’re unlikely to see elec-tric cars become a notable part of the market until at least the end of this decade. In the meantime, she said, electrification technologies will become integrated into traditional gas guzzling vehi-cles. Even the “little old gasoline engine” is become smarter.

“Last year we saw a flur-ry of vehicles that made it into the 40 mile club (as in per gallon),” she said.

Theo O’Neill, a clean-

tech analyst at Wunderlich Securities, doesn’t see elec-tric vehicles ever moving beyond a small niche. Auto-makers, he said, have discov-ered that they can meet new emissions standards by bor-rowing from hybrid “start-stop” technology, which shuts off the engine while a car is stopped in traffic or at a red light.

“It was brilliant,” he said. “And they can use the same old engine they were using before. It’s all over Europe, and it will be all over the United States next year.”

At GM, the Chevy Volt is selling to a mostly affluent, niche market of buyers, but bits and pieces of the tech-nology behind it (well over 200 patented technologies) can be found in the Chevy Malibu, the propulsion sys-tem for Cadillac and else-where.

For Dore, driving electric is a moral issue. He doesn’t want to support the oil indus-try.

Recently, he set out to prove that he could drive across one of the largest states in the union with-out gasoline. He shipped his VW Beetle (a car that gets 60-70 miles per charge that he converted himself for about $20,000 to run on a lithium ion battery) to Texas, where charging infrastruc-ture is plentiful, and drove 550 miles in 4.5 days.

“There were a couple of times we had to be creative,” he said. “The thing about charging stations is they’re popping up all over the cit-ies. There aren’t too many in between cities.”

In San Antonio, he got, “ICEd” — the term he says “electric vehicle nuts” like him use to describe an inter-nal combustion engine vehi-cle that parks in a charging spot reserved for electric vehicles.

At another charging sta-tion, he couldn’t get the thing to turn on and called a 24-hour hotline listed on the station.

“I got a call a week later,” he said.

By Julie WernauChicago Tribune

Chris Walker/ChiCago Tribune

Martin Howard, of Mt. Prospect, Ill., poses while charging his new all-electric Nissan Leaf on Feb. 6 in his garage at home.


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