Alternative Fuel Vehicles

Lance Melnik peered into the powder blue hydrogen car and turned to his 9-year-old daughter. By the time she drives, he told her, "These will be the cars on the road." His wife, Maria, wasn't buying any of it. The source of her skepticism? A yellow power cord hanging out of the next bumper over. The cars -- fuel cell, electric, hybrid, biodiesel -- were on display Saturday at the Alternative Energy and Transportation Expo, held at Santa Monica Airport.

Cadillac unveiled a concept car this week that runs partially on hydrogen, adding to the ranks of futuristic vehicles powered by the universe's most common element. Yet even if you could drive it -- there's only one now -- you couldn't get from L.A. to San Francisco, because there aren't enough fueling stations. The state, through its Hydrogen Highway program, has been pushing to create a network of 100 hydrogen fueling stations by 2010.

Ben LeBeau pulled up to the Conserv Fuel station in Brentwood on a recent Friday and started filling the tank of his black Chevy Tahoe with a liquid rarely found in California -- E85, an alternative fuel made of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The station is near his office, and he's been a regular there for more than a month. LeBeau's Chevy, a so-called flexible-fuel vehicle, can run on gasoline, E85 or any combination of the two -- and that's one reason he bought it.

San Carlos, Calif. On an overcast Friday in February, about 100 people gathered behind Tesla Motors Inc. headquarters, awaiting the future of transportation. A truck pulled up with a trailer, which disgorged a sleek black electric sports car that promises to change the world as much as the Model T did a century ago. The crowd toasted with champagne as Elon Musk, Tesla's chairman, climbed a staircase and made a triumphant speech. "This is the culmination of an enormous amount of work," he said.

Oscar-winning writer and director Paul Haggis owns four Toyota Priuses and is high on the waiting list to buy a $100,000 Tesla electric roadster. But when he heard about the new Honda FCX Clarity, a hydrogen-powered car that gets 270 miles on a tank and emits nothing but water, he was desperate to drive it. "I want one. I want one," he said of the Clarity, later dispatching his agent to hunt for the not-yet-available vehicle.

The Shell station looks typical, with recognizable yellow and red signs plastered on the islands and gasoline pumps. But one pump sticks out. It sports a bright blue "Hydrogen" label above a video screen. On its side is a metal lockbox and a new kind of dispenser -- new at least to the everyday gas station visitor.

With his blue button-down shirt, neat khaki pants and rimless glasses, Mike Lewis doesn't look like much of an evangelist. But that's what he is: an advocate for alternative fuels -- and their profit-pumping potential. Lewis is co-owner of Pearson Fuels, a gas station on El Cajon Boulevard just east of Interstate 15 that sells biodiesel, two kinds of natural gas, vehicle-grade propane and ethanol alongside the usual pumps for gasoline and diesel.

Perhaps you've seen oilman T. Boone Pickens on television advertising the "Pickens Plan" for alternative energy, urging Americans to wean themselves from foreign fuel by adopting natural gas and wind power. Pickens has another plan he isn't advertising and from which he also stands to profit. He wants Californians to borrow $5 billion to invest in natural gas and alternative energy by voting yes on Proposition 10 on the November ballot.

Hollywood wants Y Fray. Leonardo DiCaprio has arrived at awards night parties with her. So have Oscar winners Steven Spielberg and Charlize Theron. Jake Gyllenhaal has been seen all around town with her. When Al Gore, among filmdom's newest stars, comes to L.A., Fray sometimes is the first person he sees. But Fray isn't an A-list star or a big-time agent. She owns Eco- limo, a Santa Monica-based limousine service that combines privilege with environmentalism.

Hybrid vehicles are proof of the old saw that you've got to spend money to save it, a new study shows. In recent years, studies by Consumer Reports and others have shown that most hybrids won't save owners enough money on fuel alone to make up for their higher initial prices. But a new study by Los Angeles-based Intellichoice.