When the major automakers up their vehicles’ miles-per-gallon or add a hybrid to their line-up it generally gets some sort of mention. But the biggest endeavors in creating truly Earth-friendly vehicles may be coming from much smaller outfits, some you’ve heard of, maybe others you haven’t.

Making some of the biggest news is Tesla Motors, because their electric car will be sporty and expensive. When the guys behind Google are getting on the waiting list you can guess it’ll be costly.

Unfortunately the date for when the millionaires/billionaires can stop waiting keeps getting pushed back. Getting on the waiting list costs $5,000. Base price for the Tesla Roadster is $98,000. Cutting yourself off from your gasoline addiction is priceless.

For a much different look, consider the Aptera, an electric vehicle vying for the automotive X-Prize. It’s reservation price is a measly $500, the all electric version will only run $26,900, and a 300 mile-per-gallon hybrid option is only $29,900, though the three-wheeled Earth-saver doesn’t look like it’ll handle icy roads very well.

You have to live in California to get one of these, but it’s a start! Considering the relative affordability of this vehicle, image what will be done in a few years when some catch on and begin to be mass-produced.

The Next Step

How can electric vehicles continue to improve? Since pollution isn’t exclusive to gas stations, we need cleaner ways to generate the electricity that we’ll be pumping into our vehicles. This means replacing things like coal-burning plants with wind or solar farms (for example).

Another avenue of improvements addresses the materials these vehicles are made out of. Since plastics come from crude oil, firms like Novomer are developing ways to create a variety of plastics from more Earth-friendly materials that will biodegrade much faster.

Categories: Go Green
Tags: Aptera, Green Cars, Hybrid, Tesla