I had the chance to attend the shooting of the latest 2011 Chevy Camaro television commercial in downtown Los Angeles in August. You may have seen it aired recently this month.

As someone who is interested in harnessing the power of the media to champion for fuel-efficient vehicles, I thought it would be exciting to check out the behind-the-scenes action of a major production. If we are going to start to build serious demand for the cars of the future, then it is time to start marketing them like other cars – fast, sexy, and fun.

The scene the crew was shooting at the time involved the Chevy Camaro dodging barrels of hay that had fallen off the back of a truck. I always wondered what kind of camera was used to get those shots that focus in tight on the front of the vehicle as it swerves on the road. Check out this heavy piece of machinery here:

I also met one of the world’s most well-known stunt woman drivers, Debbie Evans. Debbie has been on the forefront of car and motorcycle stunt driving for over thirty years.

When not driving a Camaro or other performance vehicles for commercial shoots all over the world, Debbie drives a Toyota Prius for her everyday car. She loves the fuel efficiency of the Prius and the fact that filling up her gas tank costs her so little. However, she was not aware of the next-gen electric vehicle technology coming on to the market very soon. I thought  it would be stellar to get her behind the wheel of a Fisker Karma or a Chevy Volt and see what she can do with some serious high-torque electric drive action.

Lastly, I discovered that the Camaro is engineered for fuel efficiency as well as performance. Despite belting out 312 horsepower, this muscle car manages 29 miles per gallon on the highway when equipped with a V6 engine and 6-speed automatic transmission.

The V6 and V8 automatic transmission versions of the Camaro come standard with GM’s Active Fuel Management system, which is designed to offer muscle power with less fuel. The Camaro is also reasonably priced – base models start at $22,680.

Being on location of the shoot made me realize that marketing cars is not rocket science. We want to be excited about being behind the wheel. We want to be riveted by its features and performance. This goes for any type of car, no matter what kind of mileage it gets or what kind of technology is under the hood.

Dr. Shannon Arvizu loves driving clean, green machines. You can find out more at MissElectric.com.