Green alternatives

Technology for electric vehicles is improving, and they may be more widely available as soon as next year, according to car dealers and consultants at the National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day Odyssey on Friday.

Conversions to natural-gas vehicles also are soaring, they said. With natural-gas prices in Utah currently at about 87 cents per gallon, drivers are snapping up any compressed-natural-gas vehicle they can find, and many people are converting their gasoline or diesel vehicle to run on natural gas alone, or to switch between natural gas and gasoline or diesel.

Electric vehicles have batteries that require charging for four to eight hours, at a cost of about $2, said Trevor Sears, sales manager of Silent Green Machines, a car dealership in Salt Lake City.

Electric and natural-gas-powered vehicles were on display at the event held at the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus in Sandy. The event was sponsored locally by Utah Clean Cities Coalition, nonprofit group made up of about 65 governments and private organizations. The group aims to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

The cars and trucks on display included plug-in electric cars, hybrid trucks that switch between gasoline and natural gas, and compressed natural gas vehicles. The current fuel crisis has increased interest in electric cars and buoyed demand from drivers looking for a way to cut down on their transportation costs, Sears said.

Most electric vehicles are only able to go 35 mph. The Tesla Roadster, however, can reach 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, and it can go 244 miles on a single charge of its battery. Reservations for the 2008 model have all been taken, but the 2009 model is available, at base cost of $109,000. The car is made by California-based Tesla Motors Inc.

The company also plans to produce a luxury sedan that will go 240 miles on a single charge of its battery. The car will have a base price of about $60,000 and is expected to roll of the assembly line in late 2010.

The low-speed vehicles made by other manufacturers are exempt from most federal safety standards that apply to typical motor vehicles and are not required to meet any criteria for vehicle crashworthiness. However, they must be equipped with head lamps, tail lights, stop lamps, reflectors, mirrors, a parking brake, windshield and seat belts.

Sears said his company sells cars made by Miles Electric Vehicles, which is owned by Miles Automotive Group Ltd., based in Santa Monica, Calif. The company currently offers two all electric, zero-emissions vehicles, including a four-door hatchback and a pickup truck that both retail for $19,000.