Car and Community  

In the fall of 2002, I began shopping for a used car in Yellow Springs, Ohio. While talking to the owner of one of the cars I evaluated, I asked why he was replacing it. He laughingly said he had bought a new “politically correct” Honda Civic Hybrid. I had noticed several gas/electric hybrids in Yellow Springs, including a Honda Insight, driven by a neighbor, and three Toyota Prisms, driven by members of the Vale, an intentional community with which CIS is associated. Since I now knew the locations of four such hybrids, and have seen others about town, it struck me that Yellow Springs seemed to have a high percentage - that is at least 5 hybrids in a population of 4000.

Applying the same ratio to the total population of 280,000,000 in the country, one would expect to find 370,000 such vehicles in the country. Yet the actual sales numbers for the country are less than 10% of this number. The Insight has been selling at the rate of about 4000 yearly and the Prism about 12,000 yearly. Of course, with annual auto sales of 15 million in the country, hybrid sales are an infinitesimal 1/10 of 1% of total sales.

The Honda Insight is the latest development by Honda, continuing a line of highly efficient automobiles. It is noteworthy to see the development of fuel efficiency of Honda cars in less than a decade. The 1991 Honda Civic Hatch back DX weighed 2158 pounds and its gas mileage (city/highway) combination was 31/35. The 1992 Honda Civic VX hatchback weighed 2100 pounds and its gas mileage was 48/55. This amazing increase was based on a new VTEC-E engine, which utilized a finely timed valve control system and new lean-burn combustion technology. This was the only car in California that did not require a catalytic converter.  In 1999 the Honda Insight was delivered which weighed 1847 pounds with mileage of 61/68. This represented a doubling of gas mileage in Honda’s smallest car in less than a decade.

Honda also developed the Civic GX natural gas vehicle, which went on sale in 1998, as well as  an electric car, the EV Plus, which was announced in 1996. Honda leased 276 of these vehicles in two years in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas as well as a few in New York City.  A total of 320 of these cars were built.  A few years ago the EV Plus was cancelled although existing owners of the car can lease it until the end of 2002.

Another electric car was General Motors’ EV1 electric car, announced in late 1996. GM terminated the program in early 2000. About 500 EV1s were built and were leased mostly in California and Arizona. GM spent $350 million to develop and promote the car. GM will recall all the cars by the end of 2002. In August 2002 Ford Motor Co. stopped work on its Think electric vehicle.  Ford had bought Norway-based Think in 1999 for $23 million and had invested $100 million in electric vehicle battery technology before canceling the project.

Honda announced the FCX-V1 and FCX-V2 hydrogen fuel cell test vehicles in September 1999, followed by the 4-passenger FCX-V3 test vehicle in September 2000. In 2001, the 4th-generation FCX-V4 was announced. Both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have certified these hydrogen-powered Honda FCX cars as meeting all applicable standards. The FCX has been certified by CARB as a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) and by the EPA as a Tier-2 Bin 1, National Low Emission Vehicle (NLEV), the lowest national emission rating. The FCX will also meet applicable U.S. safety and occupant protection standards, featuring improved performance and collision safety. The car weight is 3,836lbs. The initial models for testing will be delivered in late 2002.

There are many other cars available today which are competitive with Honda that provide high gas mileage. The top ten cars for 2001 in terms of gas mileage are:

            1. Honda Insight (electric-gas hybrid) 61/68

            2. Toyota Prius (electric-gas hybrid) 52/45

            3. (3-way tie) Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen New Beetle

                        (all diesels with manual transmissions) 42/49

            4. Honda Civic HX (manual) 36/44

            5. Suzuki Swift 36/42

            6. Honda Civic HX (automatic) 35/40

            7. (3-way tie) Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen New Beetle

                        (all diesel with automatic transmission) 34/45

            8. Toyota Echo 34/41

            9. (2-way tie) Chevrolet Prizm, Toyota Corolla 32/41

            10. Honda Civic Sedan 32/39

Cars are the most resource-intensive machines of our modern lives.  Energy is used to produce the steel, rubber, and components of a motor vehicle, which then consumes more during its duration of use. Since cars use huge amounts of a non-renewable resource (oil), there is great pressure to make them more efficient.

Car manufacturers like Honda have responded by developing a wide range of options, both in size and in fuel types from gasoline to natural gas to electric to fuel cells. In many parts of the world, there are even more efficient cars available.

Yet despite the availability of alternatives and in spite of the knowledge of depleting oil resources, the most popular cars in America are the largest cars – the Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). Despite their proven dangers to people in smaller cars, despite their grossly poor gas mileage, Sport Utility Vehicle sales continue to increase. Recently Congress defeated a measure calling for improved mileage efficiency requirements for new cars.

Repeated surveys say that Americans are not willing to sacrifice performance and features for better fuel economy.  The only features that count now are opulence and size.  “Soccer moms” and “suburban warriors”, terms used to describe the typical  SUV driver, are picking size and weight, along with acceleration and comfort, as their main reasons for buying. Some report they feel “safer”, ignoring the fact that the safer they feel, the less safe other drivers feel.

President Bush has announced that the war on terrorism will last decades. Some of those viewed as enemies are centered in oil producing countries in the Middle East. Many people think the real basis of the conflict is oil resources. Yet reliable cars that get 3 times the gas mileage of SUVs have been available for years. Are people ready to attack and occupy other countries simply to drive a larger vehicle?

Does Yellow Springs’ high concentration of hybrid cars tell us anything? Does “community spirit” enter into it, in the form of concern for future generations as far as resources or with existing members of the community relative to safety? One thinks of people considering their neighbors and the children of their neighbors and themselves; and then making selections based on that, rather than style, prestige and performance.

Or is it something even simpler and less altruistic? I have noticed that people in Yellow Springs are not impressed by big cars, quick acceleration, elegant homes, and a host of other material possessions that we take for granted in larger urban areas. They are very practical people. Big cars and big houses are of low priority. What is significant to them are the relationships within the community and the community itself. It seems that they perceive themselves not as individuals, attempting to compete or outdo their neighbors (particularly in appearance) but as members of a community where the most important activities are those concerning interpersonal interactions. Their choice of high mileage cars results from perceiving themselves also as members of a national or world community. When people have friends who care for them and for whom they care, and with whom they live in close trusting communities, cars and houses are incidental. When their life is full of interactions, they have no need for shopping at the mall. When they are impressed with each other because of character and involvement, they pay no attention to styles. They have happiness without “material stuff” and their lives are full and meaningful.