Green Autos

For the last decade or so, the auto industry seems to have developed a collective knack for making enthusiasts hurry up and wait. Alfa Romeo has been threatening to return to the U.S. (We’re not counting the rare and pricey 8C Competizione and Spider as a proper return.) since its stepmom (Chrysler) was shacking up with some domineering German. Each of the Detroit Three has said, “Our half-ton diesel pickup is just around the bend,” though they clearly haven’t been referring to the next bend. And if the concept versions of the new jointly-developed Toyota/Subaru sport coupe aren’t piling up like cordwood in some Japanese warehouse, we’ll eat a live electric eel.

But one of the most galling fits of carmaker procrastination has to be the saga of Jaguar’s smaller-than-the-XK sports car. First there was the XK180 Concept of 1998. Then, two years later, there was the F-Type Concept. The production version was going to be front, no, mid-engined! Then Ford axed the project, then started on it again, killed it again, and sold Jaguar to Tata. Now the baby Jag sports car ball is rolling again, and once again a concept version has been unleashed upon the public. Its name? C-X16.

Up until very recently, electric cars had a reputation of being slow, unexciting transportation appliances (This despite the fact the fastest car in the world from 1898 to 1904 was a French electric car, the Jeantaud Duc.). Lately, though, battery-powered cars are starting to come across as legitimate performance cars, due in no small part to cars like the Tesla Roadster and the Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell.

Now Nissan seems to be jumping onto the exciting EV bandwagon. First was the Esflow concept, which premiered at the Geneva Motor Show last month, and now the company’s tuning arm, NISMO, has created a radical, widebody racing version of the Leaf that’s on display at the New York Auto Show. But it turns out there’s very little Leaf underneath.

With all the talk of tighter Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements lately (35.5 miles-per-gallon in 2016, and some legislators calling for 60 mpg nine years after that), a lot of us gearheads are understandably worried about the future. However, forcing automakers to devise substantially more efficient new cars might not be all bad news; to make such quantum leaps in fuel economy, cars will have to be noticeably lighter than they are now, because clean diesels, hybrid systems and the like won’t be enough by themselves. And in addition to increased efficiency, less mass also means better acceleration, braking and handling.

Against this backdrop, the people behind the Los Angeles Auto Show’s annual Design Challenge drafted the rules for this year’s contest thusly: Create a four-passenger vehicle weighing 1,000 lb. or less that is comfortable, safe, and delivers satisfactory performance and looks. When all was said and done, nine concepts from seven automakers (Daimler created one for each of its three passenger car brands) were submitted and, if you ask us, they’re all significantly less depressing than other people’s visions of our automotive future. But don’t take our word for it; make the jump and judge for yourselves.