Gasoline-powered cars run on gas. It is as simple as that. Regular or high-grade–which depends on the motor.

The theory behind the creation of non-gas-powered cars, or partially gas powered cars is that the supply of fossil fuels will eventually be exhausted. That may happen in thirty years or a century from now. No one knows. In the meantime, gas will get more expensive.  Moreover, gasoline emissions will continue to hurt the environment.

PSA Peugeot Citroen is about to launch the world’s first diesel-electric engine, according to Bloomberg. It will join the race to replace gasoline-based engines. That race currently includes all-electric cars like GM’s Chevy Volt, clean-diesel vehicles from VW, hybrids – a market currently dominated by Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC) and Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) – and ultra-efficient gas-powered cars which have been pioneered by Ford Motor (NYSE: F). Ethanol-fueled cars are available in some states as well.  Solar- and water-powered vehicles may come to market within a few decades, according to many experts.

The challenge to all of these new technologies is that most of them do not work very well, as replacements for traditional vehicles. Electric cars cannot go very far and there are not many places to recharge them. It is still hard to find locations with diesel fuel. Batteries do not hold charges well, and are expensive to build.

The largest hurdle car companies face is consumer confusion. A car buyer who has bought gasoline-powered cars all their lives cannot possibly evaluate with any reasonable certainty which of the new technologies will work. This is made more difficult by the fact that experts do not know those answers and continue to debate the merits of one technology over others.

Alternative energy vehicles may eventually replace gas engines but it won’t be an easy sell. Car buyers will have to spend hours if not days studying why anyone would drive the new cars and light trucks that may be discontinued because they lost the race for alternative energy primacy.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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