Yes, it's true: a new series on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE– inspired by T. Boon Pickens' nationally advertised plan to run the whole damn country's auto fleet on CNG. Moron that later. For now, The International Herald Tribune reports that Utah's CNG scene in heating up. And why not? State government mandates have kept a lid on the price of CNG to just above extraction costs, currently running about $0.75 – $0.80/gallon. A cryo-reinforced tank fill-up in the Beehive State runs less than $10. A $3k state tax credit for purchase or new or used EPA-certified CNG vehicles has led to a run-up on prices of used Contours and Cavaliers not unlike that $7000 Geo Metro XFi. And that's on top of the $4k federal tax credit for new CNG vehicles, currently limited to the Honda Civic GX, if you can get one. (The only Utah Honda CNG dealer has a waiting list over 300 buyers.) Not surprisingly, some backyard conversions are taking place by drivers desperate to save money on the cheap, tax credit be damned. "Number of natural gas conversions explodes" was the unintentionally ironic headline in the Salt Lake Tribune. Reports of unsecured and rusty CNG tanks just might give pause to one's running red lights in Salt Lake City. Anyhow, Utah's natural gas reserves aren't much compared to other states such as Oklahoma or Texas. Texas. Doesn't Pickens live down there?

Actually, we're not sure what number Tesla Roadster is chronicled here. But a private and likely very well off citizen in California has procured one and put a video of himself driving it on Ye Olde YouTube. What we can see from the video is: (1) The carbon fiber hood is very light and (2) mother of god, it's quick. A confidential source confirms that the customer paid sticker ($120k) for his lithium-ion-powered automotive trinket. No word on recharge time or range in the video. (As this guy's stable probably includes a fleet of slick cars, I doubt it's of very much consequence.) Now, if Tesla can just amp-up production, not "fad out," keep costs under control (have you seen that showroom?), raise more money, build a more profitable product and fend off competitors, we can take them off the Death Watch. [hat tip to Jonny Lieberman]

Well, you can't accuse either side of the political spectrum of hanging around while gas prices have opened-up the debate on America's energy policy, or lack thereof. While President Bush has removed the executive order against off-shore drilling (over to you congress), former Vice President Al Gore has asked Americans to help foot the bill for a ten-year, three trillion dollar "moon shot" effort to switch to "clean" electricity from solar, wind and geothermal power. While this is an extremely inconvenient solution for coal mining states that leaves pro-nuclear partisans in the cold, I mention Al's plan here because it's implicit that the transition would enable a nation of plug-in hybrids or pure EVs. Hey, what about hydrogen? Big Al made no mention of water vaporware. But The Boston Herald reports that a group of scientists have priced-out a U.S. switch to hydrogen-powered vehicles at $200b. No mention was made of the energy source for the fuel, but apparently the the Committee on Assessment of Resource Needs for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies have bigger fish to fry (deep freeze?). "The cost of platinum is approximately 57 percent of the fuel-cell stack costs and represents the greatest challenge to further cost reductions," the study said. "Future platinum supply is a critical issue in forward projections of fuel-cell costs." If it's not one thing, it's another.

Hey, why not create a national network of electric vehicle [EV] re-charge stations? OK, this video kinda exaggerates the all-important re-charge time. And if those mats recharge your EV in ten seconds, why do you need a car wash-style battery swap stations? These are not churlish questions (which is why we continue to ask Tesla about their Roadster's range and recharge times). They speak to the commercial viability of the entire project. Anyway, go for it Shai! What's that? You want MY tax dollars to pay for all this? AutoblogGreen tells the tale. "Speaking to the House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (we have one of those?), Agassi said, 'For the price of two months worth of oil, some $100 billion, we can put in place the infrastructure needed to power the nation's cars and end this oil dependence.' Ambitious, no? He then threw in the 'American jobs' angle with, 'Of that $100 billion, moreover, some $80 billion will go into jobs that, by their nature, can only be performed in the US – the construction of the infrastructure itself.'" Other than remarking on Agassi's chutzpah. AutoblogGreen lets the wisdom of federal tit-sucking go unchallenged. We call boondoggle. If it's such a good idea, let the electric companies pay for it.