When the time comes to replace your car, consider buying something smaller and more fuel-efficient, or take a look at cars that use another source of fuel altogether. If you're really determined, you might want to become friends with the manager of your neighborhood fast-food restaurant. Joshua Tickell was a college senior when he figured out how to make a diesel-like fuel from vegetable oil, including used cooking oil from the fryers at hamburger joints. If that's just a little bit too unconventional, there are always the electric and hybrid cars now entering the market. Electrics Most major automakers have electric vehicles available for sale or lease in at least some area of the country, according to The Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas , an industry group.
Electric cars glean power from banks of batteries.
They have to be charged up between uses. An overnight recharging costs less than a large cup of coffee. Most will travel 40 to 100 miles on a single charge, the association says. The average battery can be recharged in eight to 10 hours. Hybrids Hybrid cars run on fuel cells that alternate between consuming electricity and gasoline.