When I was at the LA Auto Show this week, I had a chance to talk to Ed Peper, General Manager of Chevrolet. The big buzz over at Chevy, besides the much anticipated streeting of the new Camaro next year, is that Chevy is the brand GM has chosen to lead the way in creating alternative fuel cars. Not just one solution, but several, including Flex Fuels, Hybrids, the Fuel Cells (like the Equinox I drove. Read the post here.), and Electric. (Whether all of these vehicles make it off the concept drawing board, and onto the real-life roads, remains to be seen.)

They aren't just developing little, compact, eco-looking vehicles designed to appeal to tree-huggers and granola eaters. No. There are big, honking, man-sized rides getting the green treatment over there. And one of the big announcements is the introduction of one that made it to the real-life roads, the new Silverado 2-Stage Hybrid Full-sized Pickup. ...There's more

Two car execs were walking behind me, passing GM's booth, and one turns to the other and says: "We'd better make sure we keep up the popularity of the Mustang before that Camaro comes out."

I flew into LA yesterday for the Auto Show, and was invited by GM to test drive their Chevy Equinox powered by hydrogen fuel cells. If I didn't see it and drive it for myself, I wouldn't believe it existed. Especially after they told me the car uses no gas and there's no need to ever change the oil... it doesn't use any of that either. Because there's no engine. No transmission either. And only a few actual moving parts.

What propels this Equinox is the reaction that occurs when oxygen is mixed with the hydrogen stored in the fuel cells. This creates electricity that powers the electric motor that drives the wheels. And unlike gas-powered engines that give off exhaust, the by product of hydrogen mixing with oxygen is a small amount of water vapor. It's not low emission, it's no emission.

How does it drive? Remarkably, like any other car. There's no lag in pick-up, like I expected there to be. It's got plenty of power, and has a top speed of about 100 mph. Since it ...There's more

Leasing a car has its advantages: little or no down payment, lower monthly payments, no hassle of having to deal with shady dealers to trade-in, or pain in the ass buyers to resell, the car.

But it also has some disadvantages. One of which is being "trapped" for the term of the lease. Get tired of the car and you'll pay big penalties to get out early. (I think Satan has easier escape clauses when he makes a deal for your soul.)

LeaseTrader.com could be your way out.

The site works like most trading sites: There are those who have stuff they don't want anymore, and those who are looking to get that stuff. In this case it's leased cars.

Here's how it works: If you're looking to ditch your lease early, post the car and the terms ...There's more

Popular in Europe for many years (yeah, I know, so was Hasselhoff), the fuel-sipping smart car (they spell "smart" all lowercase), will be available for sale in the US come January '08. But with traveling test-drive road shows hitting all 50 states this year, the invasion has already started. And, with over 30,000 gas-pump-sticker-shocked Americans placing a $99 online reservation to buy a smart fortwo (the model to be released in the US), apparently so has our love affair.

The smart USA team invited me and several other journalists to San Francisco last week to put the little bugger through its paces, up and down the winding mountain roads and SUV choked freeways between San Fran and San Jose. How do you pass up a chance to drive a car that looks like it could be used by by an elephant as a roller-skate during some twisted, 70's disco-themed circus routine? You can't. So I went. And it was surprising.
Here's how it rated:

Overcompensation Quotient: -10.
If women believe guys drive huge Hummers and other large trucks to make up for what they're lacking in other departments, then this car screams "I'm packing!"

The entire smart fortwo is a just a hair over 106" (8.8 feet), from tip to tail. (Smaller than the wheelbase on typical SUVs.) It's 5-feet 1-inches wide and just over 5-feet tall. That's about three and a half feet shorter, 6-inches narrower, and 4.5-inches taller than the Mini Cooper. You can park it nose-in to a curb and not stick out farther than cars that are parallel parked. It's as small as you can get without having "Matchbox" printed on the bottom. And ushers in a new class of car: the micro-compact.

Claustrophobia Inducement: None.
Here's the strange thing - once you close the door to the fortwo you immediately forget you are riding in the smallest car on the road. (The fact that the seat position is as high as a "normal" sized car helps the illusion.) ...There's more