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While US automakers work to develop alternative vehicles to drive our energy future, some electric “vehicles” already on the road are working to forge their way ahead of the line this summer. With rising gas prices, there’s a slight chance you’ll be seeing less Escalades cruising beach neighborhoods this summer and more electric vehicles, street-legalized golf carts to be exact.

Ron and Don Stocks, the brothers who own Golf Cart Outlet will be marketing their golf carts to home owners and vacationers as a substitute to driving around larger vehicles that consume gasoline. The low cost alternatives serve for short trips to the beach, cruising large properties or running errands.

The vehicle:

• Is federally certified as street-legal with the addition of a full windshield and wiper, turn signals, headlights, brake lights, hazard flashers and seat belts for four passengers.
• Has a roof but no doors or other windows.
• Begin at $6,600 for the 864-pound, 5-foot-long, 5.5 hp. vehicle (options like an 18 hp. motor can add thousands of dollars to the price)

Owners of a similar golf cart business think it’s a hard sell to a very niche market, but the Stocks brothers seem optimistic claiming that it’s “popular around the beach.” Consumers are growing increasingly aware of our energy challenges and are looking for new options, possibly choosing electric over doors and windows.

There has been a lot of buzz around the “Car of the Future” episode that aired on the PBS show “Nova” this Earth Day. Tom and Ray Magliozzi who are the NPR “Car Talk” guys (also known as Click and Clack) will be on the search for the car of the future. The brothers test drive alternative fuel vehicles, talk to think tanks, visit the Detroit Auto Show and even travel to Iceland to ride and refuel a hydrogen-powered bus, cracking jokes the whole way.

If you’re interested in a little preview, read the interview done by Newsweek with the brothers. One excerpt below taps into what they recommend for the future:

What types of technology did you recommend in the documentary?

Ray: We cited start-stop technology, which makes your engine stop when you’re at a traffic light, regenerative braking, cylinder deactivation, turbos, diesels, direct-injection gasoline vehicles, hybrid diesels, lightweight materials. Our vehicles weigh 6,000 pounds. It’s preposterous! All of these technologies are out there right now. Is it that simple to put any one or combination in current cars? No. But they’ve got 12 years to do it. And the truth is they could probably do it in two or three years. They’ve milked the SUV craze as much as possible, and now the public is going to demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, especially with gasoline prices getting up to near four bucks a gallon. I secretly hope they go higher, because it’ll push the process along.

To watch the video go to the PBS site.

In honor of Earth Day, U.S. News and World Report came out with an update on the state of green cars.

“There may be no industry on earth that impacts our environment as much as the auto industry. And while that impact has been decidedly negative over the past 100 years, automakers are increasingly pursuing ways to do less damage, and in a few cases, perhaps even to help the environment recover.”

Here are a few of the updates the state of green cars lists:
1.) Hybrid Sales are Up…Way Up
2.) Electric Cars are Becoming Mainstream
3.) Hydrogen Fuel Cells Nearly Road-Ready
4.) Clean Diesels Coming to U.S.

There has no doubt been an increased focus on alternative fuels and vehicles. With gas prices rising, drivers have gone in search of vehicles that use less gas- or no gas at all. There are also many more options available for drivers to choose. This article mentions that hybrid sales alone were up 38% in 2007 thanks to new models of both sedans and SUVs.

The state of green cars will only get better as new technologies emerge and carmakers adapt.

Soon there will be another exciting electric vehicle available in the U.S. The Norwegian car company Think announced it will be expanding beyond its European boundaries by teaming up with two leading American clean tech investor firms to bring the vehicle to the states.

The vehicle, TH!NK city, can reach a top speed of 65 mph and travel as much as 110 miles on a single charge. The environmentally friendly vehicle is emission free, 95 percent recyclable and meets all European and US federal motor vehicle safety requirements.

Ray Lane, a Kleiner Perkins Managing Partner and Chairman of TH!NK North America, says, “The transportation industry is undergoing its largest transformation since Henry Ford built the model T. Today we are witnessing a seminal event - the first highway-capable electric vehicle intended for mass production, representing a big step towards a zero emission transportation industry.”

Production of the TH!NK city car began last year in Norway with plans to begin selling to Scandinavia, Switzerland and France. Trial and demonstration projects will begin in North America in 2009.

Imagine this: a vehicle that can go 80 mph for 250 miles after being charged for just five minutes. No gasoline. No batteries. No emissions. This is Ian Clifford’s idea of a sensible, everyday car.

His design, the tiny ZENN Motor “will use a breakthrough version of a common electrical storage device called an ultracapacitor to store power from a wall socket, the company says. Fuel costs to operate it would be about one-tenth of today’s gas-powered vehicle.”

The article claims that if this car is real it could “revolutionize automotive travel by making all-electric cars competitive with gas-powered vehicles and ease the world’s dependence on oil.”

Check it out. See what the vehicle would look like, learn more about how ultracapacitors work and what could be in store for the future.

No this isn’t Bravo’s hit reality show “Project Runway”. This is “Project Driveway” where drivers are chosen to participate in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle test drives. At the recent Washington Auto Show the first two DC drivers were chosen to partake in the World’s largest market test drive of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.

“Tom Albert of Alexandria, Va., and Nick Williams of Washington, D.C., are the first area residents to join “Project Driveway,” a comprehensive deployment of more than 100 Chevrolet Equinox electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Albert cites an interest in environmentally friendly technology as his motivation to be part of this innovative program. “I believe fuel cells will be the ultimate replacement for the gasoline engine, and I hope my involvement will be one part of helping bring this technology closer to reality,” he said.

Williams is an admitted car buff since childhood who also has concerns about the environment and the nation’s growing energy demands. “Participating in Project Driveway is one way for me to make a difference,” said Williams. “I am hopeful that fuel cell technology will ultimately be of some meaningful benefit to the environment.”

The program selects drivers of the Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle, drivers are given a car for two months in exchange for their detailed experiences while driving day in and day out. Drivers keep frequent logs of how the car runs and what they like and dislike about the vehicle. Chevy will use the feedback to make the car more practical for the public. The carmakers want to make sure the cars can withstand the commuting and trials only a family can put on a vehicle.

We think they’ll make it to the next round….

With an increased focus on the future of energy, jobs are opening up in various industries to meet the changes and challenges on climate issues. This is especially true in law firms. Partners at the largest firms across the country are staffing up on green lawyers.

One such firm is Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom who have been working on climate-related matters for years, who are now launching a 23-lawyer group specifically for climate change issues. The article says that there are 26 Am Law 100 firms with climate change practices or clean technology groups.

“Climate is hot in a way that nothing else has been before,” says Latham & Watkins partner Robert Wyman Jr., the firm’s lead counsel for Clean Air Act matters. “We’re talking about transforming the energy and transportation economy.”

The article makes the point that this is not a fad. As climate issues grow, the number of lawyers will rapidly increase, as been seen over the last couple of months.

“There appears to be real work to be done here. Heightened regulation of companies releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases has led to a host of new legal questions. Although Congress is still working out federal emissions limits, corporate clients are facing state and regional emissions caps as well as standards outside the United States set by the Kyoto Protocol. The work, mainly, falls into two categories: helping companies navigate emissions caps issues and litigating disputes arising from emissions limits or from problems caused by greenhouse gases.”