Whither the SUV?

But David, who drives a Toyota Prius, is somewhat democratic about vehicular choice. "I'm not saying people shouldn't be allowed to drive SUVs. What I'm saying is, why can't Detroit make an SUV that gets 40 or 50 miles per gallon? If they made an SUV that really was energy-efficient, the American public would buy it."

Weirdly--or perhaps not--David and Reisman sound as if they're reading from the same page. "I'm disappointed in auto manufacturers," he says. "I think the technology is out there." He notes: "A VW diesel turbo-fuel-injection Jetta can get close to 50 miles per gallon." For him, that's a sensible mpg even for a Cadillac Escalade or Chevy Tahoe. He won't give up his H2, but he worries about the environment, overpopulation and global warming. "I guess there are two types of SUV owners," he says. "There are some who think, 'I can afford it, so I'm not going to worry about it.' I see those people as a little bit ignorant, out of touch with reality. And then there are people like me. I believe in conservation, despite the paradox that I own a Hummer."

That's where the rubber meets the road for the auto industry. Manufacturers that long relied on the big vehicles as cash cows are eager to satisfy Reisman and David and keep California in front of the SUV-buying pack. In Detroit, Tokyo and elsewhere, researchers are working on short-term answers and a long-range solution--an SUV powered by a fuel-cell engine that combines hydrogen and oxygen to create water and in the process generates electricity. At the recent NextFest, a fair for futuristic technology in Chicago, GM exhibited the Sequel, an experimental hydrogen fuel-cell SUV of the sort that might be on the market by 2010. Though its hulking helmet-like shape is aesthetically underwhelming, the Sequel performs impressively, the first fuel-cell vehicle to go from zero to 60 mph in fewer than 10 seconds and the first to achieve a 300-mile traveling range. And giving off only water vapor as exhaust.