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American Morning
Fuel-Efficient Cars Wave of the Future?
Aired May 08, 2001 - 09:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you're ready to give up your SUV for something more fuel efficient or if you just want to get the most mileage from the car you're driving right now, our guest this morning has some advice for you. He is David Heim, and he's managing editor of "Consumer Reports" magazine. He is in our New York bureau.
Good to see you. How are you?
DAVID HEIM, "CONSUMER REPORTS": I'm fine. Thank you. How are you this morning?
HARRIS: Not too bad. Not too bad. You know what? I'm curious about one thing, though. All right. We've seen gas prices right now in certain parts of the country topping to $2, heading to $3 right now. Why aren't people abandoning their SUVs in droves by now?
HEIM: Well, some would say that the price of gasoline hasn't yet gone high enough or it hasn't gone up fast enough to really make people think hard about the cars they're driving. As prices go up gradually, people get used to paying the higher prices, and it just gets folded into the overall cost of living.
HARRIS: All right. So how high do you think it would have to -- gas prices would have to go to make folks just go ahead and drop the Navigators and start going for like the Prisms or whatever?
HEIM: Well, there's talk of $3-a-gallon gasoline by this summer. That may have an effect on some people. But, of course, in Europe and other parts of the world, people pay the equivalent of around $5 a gallon now. They regularly drive smaller, fuel-efficient cars. So maybe that's a threshold.
HARRIS: OK. Well, let's hope we don't ever see that happen here.
All right. Let's talk about some of the technologies that are out there right now and that are available to people. How widely available are these so-called hybrid cars, cars that use both electricity and gas?
HEIM: Toyota and Honda both make a hybrid car. It uses electricity and a gasoline engine. They're fairly widely available in most parts of the country. There's another high-mileage car out there. It runs on a conventional diesel engine. It's the Volkswagen Golf. It's a very good car. We recommend it. We recommend the Toyota Prius as well, which is a hybrid car.
HARRIS: Either of those better than the other one? Is there a standout in this class?
HEIM: The Volkswagen and the Toyota both get around 40 miles to the gallon overall. The Honda, which is small two-seater car, gets about 50 miles to the gallon overall.
HARRIS: OK. That's what I was going to ask you next, too, is are these cars so underpowered that you can't take more than a pack of gum inside the car with you?
HEIM: The -- the Honda's really a commuter car, but the Toyota and the Golf are both good all-around cars. The Golf especially is roomy, comfortable, handles well, a lot to recommend it.
HARRIS: Now the Golf -- that's a diesel, right?
HEIM: That's correct.
HARRIS: OK. Whatever happened to diesel? Diesel was the big -- you know, the big promise maker coming into all of this stuff? Why aren't -- why aren't there more diesel cars out there?
HEIM: Well, the emissions are one problem. You can't buy the Golf or the -- I'm sorry. You can't buy the Golf in California or in New York because of those states' strict emission laws.
HARRIS: We -- we talk -- getting back to these hybrid cars or electric cars -- I don't think the electric cars are available right now on the market, but for the...
HEIM: No.
HARRIS: ... hybrid cards, do you have to have a special order for a dealer or just -- do you just got to a dealership and ask for one?
HEIM: As far as I know, you can just walk into a Toyota dealer and get your best price and walk away with a car.
HARRIS: What do they cost?
HEIM: They're around $20,000 for all three cars.
HARRIS: Yeah? Have you driven these cars yourself?
HEIM: Our engineers have driven them. We've tested all three extensively, as we do with all cars we test year in and year out. Myself? No, I have not driven one.
HARRIS: OK. And -- and why?
HEIM: Why haven't I driven one? I'm just too busy doing other things. HARRIS: OK. That's a good excuse. It will work for us. David Heim, thanks much for the timely advice. We'll talk to you down the road -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Leon, maybe he couldn't afford the gas. That's why.
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