It has lithium ion batteries and — get this — you can use the electricity right in your house to recharge the batteries! In fact, thanks to the option of a Mobile Connector, you can even get a charge from any 110v or 220v electrical outlets, if one is available.

For a clean car, this is a hot ride — and by all available accounts, it has great fuel economy as well!

Though it costs a little over one hundred thousand dollars, it really is well worth the amount.

Otherwise known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this stimulus bill is worth $787 billion all in all. Presently, it gives up to $2500 tax credit for buyers of low-speed new electric vehicles. However, this has been criticized as a “pork barrel” for golf carts.

On the plus side, however, it allows new car buyers this year to deduct the local and state taxes paid on their vehicle purchases from their annual federal taxes. While $1.7 billion is allocated to fund this tax deduction, this move received a lukewarm reaction from consumers, probably because they won’t be seeing the figures realized until the end of 2009.

Once the next generation plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles are introduced into the market, consumers will be better able to see the benefits of this stimulus bill. Tax credits reaching up to $7500 are offered to buyers of 4-wheeled plug in vehicles with 4 to 16 kilowatt-hours of battery power loaded in them. At least 1 billion of the total funds are allocated for this particular tax deduction.

Also on a more positive note, the bill also expands the limit of the tax credit program from 250,000 hybrid cars all-in-all. The stimulus bill’s limit is now a total of 200,000 plug-ins and hybrids per manufacturer.

This proposal is tagged the Harkin-Stabenow amendment, and most US lawyers have reason to believe that it violates important aspects of the World Trade Organization rules, as well as the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Car manufacturing and dealing companies are fearful about the effects of this move on the US economy. With the new amendment, there’s a big possibility that car sales will drop drastically this year. The US happens to hold a big chunk of the world’s car manufacturing industry.

The other side of the coin

On the plus side, a lot of environmentalists and households are excited about the immediate effect of this amendment. Most people refuse to hand-over their 10-year-old faithful for newer, cleaner models simply because they can’t afford to pay for a new car.

With the $10,000 credit aid from the government, a lot of US households may see the possibility of owning new hybrid cars. The environmentalist dream of saving what’s left of the ozone layer can be made real.

Executioner’s Alley

The amendment states that households wishing to get the rebate should trade in cars that are over 10 years old. The car also needs to be functional, meaning you can’t trade in mere scrap metal. You have to trade in a car that you obviously still drive around the city. In exchange for the $10,000 rebate, your old car will be demolished to make sure that it won’t be used again.

The Senate allocated $16 billion for this project—just enough to make the rebate possible until September 2010.

In France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, the average emission of CO2 for all new cars in all categories (SUVs included) is 3.26 tons/year (since the beginning of 2008) based on 12,000 miles/year. While in Japan, the average emission of CO2 is 3.10 tons/year. In the U.S., the average CO2 emission for new cars is a surprising 5.77 tons/year.

When it comes to consumption of fuel, the study found that cars, minivans, and SUVs in the U.S. market consume 10.6 lt/100 km. While European cars consume 5.83 lt/ 100km and Japanese cars consume only 5.79 lt/100km.

Note that the European CO2 results are affected by the big proportion of compact cars and diesel engines, and the Japanese CO2 average is affected by the large proportion of minicars. While SUVs make up 30% of the total U.S. new car market.

Another factor is the strict CO2-based taxation enforced throughout Europe, which hasn’t been adapted in the U.S. Also, the higher gas prices in Europe also affect the results of the study.

If the U.S. will enforce the fuel-consumption-based taxation on new vehicles and if the gas prices will rise to the same levels as those in Europe, then American will be forced to buy compact-sized cars which emit less CO2 and consumes less gas.

Clearly, being eco-friendly has become more of a necessity nowadays because it not only affects the consumers’ financial stability but also the environment.

(in the pic — the Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion — a prime example of European fuel economy!)