For those who live on the west side of Los Angeles, that magical test drive happened this past weekend at Santa Monica’s annual Alt Car Expo.

Nissan set up a large-scale test drive center for the expo that resembled an amusement park ride (minus the life-size cartoon characters). Those who have already reserved a Nissan Leaf were notified before the event and could register early for their spin around the block.

After registration, drivers were invited to wait in a general lobby area where you could meet and chat with other zero emissions enthusiasts as you waited for your chance to drive Nissan’s new green machine around the test track.

Even though I’ve already reserved a Leaf of my own, I decided to give up my spot and let others take a turn behind the wheel. I was able to test drive Nissan’s EV two months ago at Plug-In 2010 event in San Jose and wanted to let someone else get enjoy the exhilaration of electric power.

What astounded me about this particular display, however, was the sheer number of people there to experience electric drive. Everywhere you looked there were smiling faces and excited people.

There really is only one way to understand the beauty of electric drive…and that is by getting behind the wheel of a green machine. Nissan plans to offer 50,000 test drives across the country this fall and you can check tour dates and schedule a test drive of your own here.

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Shannon Arvizu, Ph.D., loves driving clean, green machines. You can read more at MissElectric.com

The South Korean automaker’s futuristic three-person city car was unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show and it’s one concept car I hope makes the passage from fantasy to reality.

About the size of a Smart ForTwo, the Pop Concept’s design is centered around the user experience. The long, sweeping windshield is meant to provide optimal vision for driver and passengers while the chic purple interior is enhances ambiance and style.

All the controls for the vehicle are accessible via one button in the cabin that powers a touch screen Transparent Organic LED display. This display shows the speedometer, battery’s state-of-charge, and other readouts on a small piece of plexiglass in front of the steering wheel.

As for the technology under the hood, the Pop Concept goes beyond the electric cars coming to market this year with a new battery technology based on lithium polymer gel. This new gel can hold more energy than current lithium-based batteries and Kia promises more energy storage at a lower cost.

The concept is said to have a 100-mile driving range and a top speed of 87 miles per hour. A small seat for a third person is located behind the front passenger.

Says Gregory Guillaume, Kia Europe’s Chief Designer: ”We’re trying to stir things up in the automotive world, to surprise people even more. We wanted this car to act as a loose nucleus, a wild atom,”

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Shannon Arvizu, Ph.D., loves driving clean, green machines. To read more, visit MissElectric.com.

The Chevy Volt will be on tour this fall, with several stops across the country for you to get up close and personal with the car that GM promises will revolutionize the way we drive.

The “Volt Unplugged” tour includes a fleet of six Chevy Volts that will be available for test drives. You will also have a chance to meet with a team of engineers, designers, and others who will be on hand to share details on the Volt’s technology and story.

So which cities are on the tour?

• Oct. 9 and 10 – Seattle
• Oct. 13 and 14 – San Francisco
• Oct. 16 – 18 – Los Angeles
• Oct. 20 – San Diego
• Oct. 22 and 23 – San Antonio
• Oct. 24 and 25 – Houston
• Oct. 28 and 29 – Miami
• Oct. 30 – Orlando
• Oct. 29 and 30 – Washington, D.C.
• Nov. 1 – Raleigh, N.C.
• Nov. 5 – 7 – New York City
• Nov. 18 – 20 – Chicago

Don’t worry if your city or state is not included on this tour or on the first wave of production vehicles this fall. The Volt will first be sold in California, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, and Washington DC and General Motors plans to sell the Volt nationwide 12-18 months later.

You can register for your own test drive on ChevroletVoltage. Just be sure to come back and let us and other Honksters know how you liked the car!

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Miss Electric, Ph.D., loves driving clean, green machines. Follow her at MissElectric.com.

But first, why did the first generation Accord Hybrid fare so poorly?  Critics say it’s because Honda engineered the car for performance instead of fuel economy. Rather than convert electrical energy into miles per gallon, Honda used the hybrid’s motor and battery pack to add about 15-horsepower to the already stout 240-horsepower V6 engine.

The result was the world’s first “performance hybrid” that boasted the power of a 6-cylinder engine and the fuel economy of a 4-cylinder engine. Had Honda added its hybrid system to the Accord’s thriftier 4-cylinder engine, it may have given competitors like the Toyota Camry Hybrid a run for their money.

Maybe the Honda Accord Hybrid was simply ahead of its time, though. I had a chance to drive two new muscle-bound hybrids recently: the BMW ActiveHybrid X6 and the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid. While these large sport utility vehicles are very different from a midsize sedan, they do share the old Accord Hybrid’s preference for power.

Both of the models I drove featured burly V8 engines with a two-mode hybrid system that allows for all-electric driving at low speeds. The fuel efficiency gains of these two hybrids are modest, but no one can complain that these brawny ‘utes are slow.

So what will the new Honda Accord Hybrid offer? It’s too early for specifics, but my hope is that Honda will change direction this time and uses those extra electrons to eke out more MPGs instead of horsepower.

If there are any muscle hybrid drivers out there, sound off and share your thoughts.

General Electric has a new video series called “The GE Show” where they showcase some of the innovations they’re working on. The latest episode features electric vehicles and includes information on what GE is doing to make recharging those vehicles easy and convenient.

What I like the most about this video production is that it helps drivers decide whether an electric car is right for them based on their real-world driving patterns. Since we’ll have several plug-in vehicles on the market within the next two years, it is important to understand how electric drive can fit into our everyday lifestyles.

The first part of the episode starts off asking viewers for their zip code and average daily miles driven. The viewer is then taken to a virtual map of their neighborhood and you can specify the location of places you frequent most. In other parts of the episode, you can watch real-world people ask real-world questions about how to charge an electric vehicle. Other features include an interactive driving game, as well as a brief history of how our transportation system has evolved and continues to change today.

And yes, there’s a link to that WattStation commercial with the catchy jingle:

Would a plug-in car fit your lifestyle? Let me know your thoughts!

In fact, there is currently an around-the-world race taking place right now made only of these ultimate commuter cars. The Zero Race, as it is called, is made up of teams from four continents that compete to traverse the planet in 80 days using no gas at all. The only rules of the race are that the vehicles:

• Be propelled by an electric motor
• Drive at least 250 kilometers (about 155 miles) distance at an average speed of at least 80 kilometers per hour (about 50 miles per hour)
• Be able to reach a maximum distance of 500 kilometers per day (about 310 miles), with a recharge stop of 4 hours during the competitor’s lunch break
• Carry at least two people on board

The race started on August 16 in Switzerland and you can follow along on their journey here.

I had the opportunity to drive around in one of the original versions of these commuter cars two years ago. The Sparrow was originally conceived of and produced by Lee Iaccoca and I had a chance to take one out for an exhilarating spin around the block. Some say the concept was ahead of its time. While that may be true, I definitely had fun putting the pedal to the metal in this baby. And the looks that I got from passerby’s were priceless.

I happened across another electric commuter car at this year’s Plug-In 2010 conference called the Arcimoto Pulse. The Pulse is less designed for speed as it is for comfort and efficiency. It features room for two and a has an MP3 stereo system to accompany your ride around town. It has a 40-mile range, a top-speed of 65 mph, and charges in 4 hours.

Electric commuter cars revolutionize the way we think about mobility. Does it really make sense, for example, to drive our SUVs that seat eight if we are going solo to our jobs? These cars are yet another example of the wide variety of technologies that are shifting our transportation sector towards clean electric drive.

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

I happened across the Smart ForTwo ED a few weeks ago at the Plug-In 2010 conference in San Jose, CA. This annual conference was the place to be to catch a glimpse of some of the most innovative cars of the future. The convertible Smart definitely caught my eye on the exhibition floor and I contacted Rick Bourgoise, Director of Communications for Smart USA, to find out more.

Rick told me that the Smart ForTwo ED has been in development in the U.K. since 2007. An electric version was part of the initial vision for the Smart ForTwo, given its mission to be one of the cleanest automotive product lines in the world. In fact, the original design was built to accommodate an electric vehicle powertrain without compromising the structure of the vehicle itself. The Smart ForTwo ED is nearly identical to the conventional ForTwo – the battery pack and electric drive system take up the same space once occupied by the engine and fuel tank.

The Smart ForTwo ED is optimized for urban driving. The car is powered by a 30 kW drive motor from electricity stored in a 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery. Smart says that initial acceleration is brisk and that top speed will be a highway-capable 60 miles per hour.

Using a 220-volt outlet, like the kind your clothing dryer plugs into, this Smart can fully charge in less than eight hours and offers a range of 82 clean miles on a single charge.

For those cutting-edge early adopters looking for a clean ride for their urban commute, Smart USA is now accepting “hand-raisers” who are interested in being part of their field test trial program. They will offer a limited number of Smart forTwo EDs in five target markets: Portland, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Orlando/Tampa, and cities along the I-95 corridor from Boston to D.C. The vehicles will be available starting in October 2010 for a four-year lease for $599/month. Production-ready vehicles for sale are expected to be available in 2012.

Rick mentioned that each field test driver will have their own web page that details real-time usage of their Smart forTwo ED. This information is intended to provide drivers and Daimler (manufacturer of the Smart ForTwo ED) data that will be used to inform the ultimate design of the production-ready version.

While being an early adopter is not for everyone, having the chance to test out future car technology (while getting a lot of head-turning attention on the road) is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

There are a wide variety of options for clean mobility in the near future, and the Smart ForTwo ED is a welcome addition to the bunch.

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

The plug-in H3 was on display at last month’s Plug-In 2010 conference in San Jose, CA. The new and improved H3 runs solely on electricity for the first 40 miles. After that, a fuel-efficient gasoline generator kicks in for trips longer than 40 miles. This makes the H3 an E-REV, or an “extended range electric vehicle,” similar to the platform of the Chevy Volt.

I spoke with David West, Raser’s Vice-President of Marketing, to find out how this vehicle works. “To make our trucks green, we don’t propel the vehicle any longer with gasoline. We replace it with a custom electric motor and battery pack. The motor has to be powerful enough to propel the car, yet small enough to be able to fit in the available space. We take out the old gas engine and put in a small EcoTech 4-cylinder engine from GM. This combustion engine provides auxiliary power to the vehicle when needed,” West told me.

Raser Technologies decided to focus on converting large trucks because they are the number one selling vehicles in America and are most commonly used by fleets. They plan to deliver EREV pick-up trucks to fleet buyers first, while developing similar products to consumers within the next few years.

While taking a test drive in the vehicle, I asked David, “You must get all kinds of interesting looks from people on the street, don’t you?” He replied, “Yeah, I get some people who drive past us on the street all the time and tell us ‘We don’t believe you!’”

Believe it or not, this car shows that even massive cars like the Hummer can benefit from electric drive technology. As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says, “The Hummer is not what is wrong…it is the engine, it is the technology, so what we have to change is not the car and the size of the cars, what we have to change is the technology.”

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

It happens to be driven by Josh and Rebecca Tikell, who also directed the award-winning documentary, Fuel.  The couple drove the algae plug-in hybrid across the country last year to promote Fuel. They are also working on a new documentary at the moment called, “Spill,” which brings attention to this summer’s Gulf Oil Spill and its aftermath.

So, what’s the deal with the plug-in hybrid algae car? Well, for one, it uses no petroleum. The vehicle is either propelled by electrical energy only (stored in the onboard battery pack underneath the rear cargo space) or by a blend of electrical energy and algae fuel.

Rebecca told me that the car is capable of traveling 30 miles in all-electric mode. The blended mode kicks in after 30 miles, delivering an estimated 150 miles per gallon over those first 100 miles. After the first 100 miles, she says that the Prius still gets superb mpg. The most efficient driving mode is all-electric, of course, and you can plug the converted car into any standard 110-volt wall outlet and fully charge in just six hours.

While plug-in hybrid Prius conversions have been around for awhile now, this is the first one powered by algae fuel (others have used petroleum). Josh and Rebecca have algae fuel for their car provided by Sapphire Energy. The beauty of algae fuel is that it is one of the most sustainably produced fuels in the world. Find out how algae fuel is produced here.

I plan on following up with Josh and Rebecca to learn more about this technology and find out how close we are to actually getting cars like this on the market. Needless to say, it is an exciting time in automotive history and I am glad that we are using our ingenuity to solve one of the most critical issues of our day.

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

While the 2011 Ford Fiesta is known for being an economical and fuel-efficient vehicle, it delivers supremely well in the comfort and connectivity department.

The model I drove came with Ford’s SYNC system, which seamlessly detected my iPhone and downloaded my contacts in minutes. I made and received several hands-free phone calls this way without a problem. Callers were easily identified on the 4-inch multifunctional LCD display, which was positioned high on the instrument panel where you don’t have to take your eyes completely off the road.

In addition to hands-free calls, you can also send text messages using nothing but voice commands. SYNC has the capability to offer turn-by-turn navigation and a handy “business search” when you’re seeking out a nearby locale. After a few days of use, I found myself wishing that all new cars today had a program like SYNC to increase driver safety.

In terms of interior ambiance, the Fiesta was surprisingly chic. I enjoyed the sleek colored lighting that illuminated the interior during the evening. The Fiesta is engineered with an acoustic-laminated windshield and sound-absorbent material to minimize road noise. That translated to a very crisp and clear listening environment when speaking with passengers or listening to SIRIUS radio on the Fiesta’s 80-watt premium sound speakers.

The Fiesta also really impressed me with its numerous safety features. The car comes equipped with seven standard airbags, including side-curtain airbags and a driver’s knee airbag. When making tight turns at high speeds, the Fiesta felt sturdy and in control, thanks to its electronic stability control system that applies the brakes or reduces engine power when it detects a skid or slide. I also really appreciated the integrated blind spot mirrors that helps when changing lanes or backing up.

Overall, the 2011 Ford Fiesta lives up to the reputation that Henry Ford Jr. envisioned when the first-generation Fiesta emerged in the 1970s. Ford’s original idea was to create an efficient car for the masses, similar to the role the Model T played at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, there are over 12 million Fiestas on the road. With this new sixth-generation Fiesta, Ford got it right – especially when it comes to comfort and safety features. Hopefully, the Ford Focus Electric (due in 2012) will also have some of the same features. And maybe – just maybe – we can hope for an improved, more efficient electric drive Fiesta in the future, as well.

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