Going green with the wrong technology will always put you in the red. Look at green hybrid buses that will not haul the passengers up a hill purchased by federal and state money and administrated by people who have no glue.
Members of the Mercedes Benz Club of America recently toured the Mercedes factory and restoration center in Germany. On the first part of the tour, the visitors drove on the Mercedes test track in their Mercedes Benz tour bus. The brain trust at GM gave up a few years ago and sold Detroit Diesel to Mercedes Benz. If you go to Europe, look at their transportation systems. Mercedes and Volvo buses all have air ride and handle like sports cars. General Motors is building clean diesel Cadillacs for the European and Asian markets. Ford has turned around because of the diesel vehicles it sells in the rest of the world, yet those vehicles do not come to the United States.
The American Smart Car gets 42 mpg. The German diesel version gets 71 mpg. GM states, “May the best car win.” You cannot purchase the best car in the United States.
This article appears in Nov 12-19, 2009.