Electric and Hybrid Cars Popular at Auto Show

The post-bailout North American International Auto Show in Detroit displayed an affinity for alternative energy vehicles such as Toyota's all-electric concept car, FT-EV and Volkswagen AG's clean diesel, BlueSport based on a story in the January 11, 2009 Detroit News ("It's a Small -- Green -- World after All"). Ford even touted its "new electrification strategy" in response to customer demand. Automakers think small cars will be their salvation, but for those buyers still wanting larger vehicles, they might need to settle for hybrid V-8 engines.

Review selected library titles related to alternative energy vehicles at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• electric automobiles
• alternative fuel vehicles
• hybrid electric cars
• hydrogen cars
• renewable energy sources
  

Energy for Sustainability: Technology, Planning, Policy by John Randolph and Gilbert M. Masters - Island Press, 2008
call number: 333.79 Ran (NOTE: see chapters 13 & 14 for transportation issues)
"Randolph (environmental planning, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U.) and Masters (environmental engineering emeritus, Stanford U.) offer an interdisciplinary and encyclopedic approach seeking to inform policy makers and technologists. . . . They describe energy patterns and trends, including . . . sustainable transportation and land use." - Book News summary excerpt

Future Cars: Bio Fuel, Hybrid, Electric, Hydrogen, Fuel Economy in All Sizes and Shapes by Ulrich Bethscheider-Kieser - AvEdition, 2008
call number: 629.229 Bet
"Introduces a unique selection of about 50 unusual and forward-looking car designs that will change the world: Hybrid cars that are already in mass production, automobiles soon to be produced, powered with natural gas, bio fuel or electricity, and concepts of fuel-cell vehicles." - Publisher summary excerpt

Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future by Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran - Twelve, 2007
call number: 338.476 Car
"It includes excellent descriptions of fuel cells, hydrogen, plug-in technology, energy storage devices, etc., their domestic developers, and how US energy politics is changing from the bottom up, rather than the top down." - Choice review excerpt

Who Killed the Electric Car? [videorecording] produced by Jessie Deeter, written and directed by Chris Paine - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2006
call number: DVD Nonfiction 629.229 Who
"Investigates the birth and death of the electric car, as well as the role of renewable energy and sustainable living in the future." - summary from the library catalog