Question: What will be the biggest distinction between the cars of the future and those of the past?

Answer: Their motive power.

Since the invention of the automobile, virtually every production car has been pushed along the highway by gasoline fueled internal combustion engines. In the future, because of fuel costs and environmental concerns, most cars will almost certainly be powered by electric motors rather than gasoline engines.

Sure, there will be a long period of transition, but it has already begun. Even today, you can buy cars here in the Shenango Valley powered by a combination of gasoline engine and electric motor. The two models -- the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius -- are called "hybrids."

Aside from a similar price tag of around $20,000 and the fact that they make use of both gasoline and electric power, the two cars bear little resemblance to each other. It’s fair to say that both Honda and Toyota hit the marks they were shooting for. However, they had different targets. Therefore the results, as well as the systems used to achieve them, are very different.

Honda’s objective was to make the most fuel efficient production car possible. They designed a futuristic looking, aerodynamic two-seater that weighs slightly less than 1,900 pounds. By comparison, a 2001 Honda Civic sedan weighs around 2,500 pounds. The Insight’s primary propulsion is provided by a small gasoline engine. When needed -- for example, during acceleration or higher speeds -- its power is supplemented by a unique electric motor. The engine and motor work together seamlessly, so you drive it just as you would any other small standard transmission car.

One key to the fuel efficiency is the fact that the electric motor also acts as a generator to recharge the batteries. In an ordinary car, when you apply the brakes, the kinetic energy dissipates as heat through the brakes. In the Insight, much of it is recovered as electricity and stored in the car’s batteries. It is then available to help move the car along. The gasoline engine also powers the motor/generator as needed to recharge the batteries. The car never needs to be recharged from any outside source.

The result is the hands down EPA fuel-efficiency winner, rated at 70 miles per gallon on the highway and 61 in the city. The next closest competitor in the EPA tests last year -- that is, before the introduction of the Toyota Prius -- averaged 16 mpg less than the Insight.

There is just one thing that seems strange when driving the Insight. When you stop at a traffic light, the engine shuts off. However, you don’t have to turn the key to restart it. You just put in the clutch and slip it into gear, and the engine is running instantly.

Unlike Honda, Toyota aimed at designing a practical family sedan -- one that wouldn’t compete with the Insight in terms of fuel efficiency, but that set it far ahead of other similarly sized economy cars. While the styling of the Insight will attract a lot of attention wherever it goes, the Prius will probably go unnoticed. The only thing that distinguishes it from other small four door sedans is the word "hybrid" on the trunk lid. Toyota opted for the practicality of sheet metal instead of aluminum, so the Prius weighs over 2,700 pounds, half again as much as the Insight.

The Prius is also opposite from the Insight in terms of its propulsion system. While the Insight is basically a gasoline powered car supplemented by the electric motor, the Prius is an electric car with extra power provided as needed by the gasoline engine. With its infinitely-variable-speed automatic transmission, you drive it just like any other automatic car. You push on the gas to go, and the brake to stop.

Like the Insight, when you step on the brake, the electric motor converts to a generator, sending electricity back to the batteries for storage. Also like the Honda, the Toyota uses the gasoline engine to power the motor/generator when the batteries need to be recharged. And it, too, never needs to be hooked up to an outside source for a charge.

Because it is primarily an electric car, nothing runs as you sit and wait for the traffic light to turn green. Unless, of course, you have the radio or air conditioning on. Then the gasoline engine may have to run to generate electricity.

In choosing practicality over ultimate fuel efficiency, Toyota produces a car with much lower mileage than the Insight. It is EPA rated at 52 mpg city and 45 mpg highway. Yes, that’s right. It gets better mileage in the city than on the highway. Both cars meet the stringent emissions standards set by the state of California.

These two hybrids are aimed at very small segments of the automobile market. Do they have any significance to the rest of the American car buyers? Perhaps not yet, but they will within a few years.

"Right now Toyota has this hybrid system available in this four door sedan," said Harry Hammond, sales manager at Mel Grata Toyota. "The next step is to put it into a sport utility vehicle." Ford plans on hitting the mainstream American market with a family size hybrid car in 2003. DaimlerChrysler will offer a hybrid Dodge Durango, also in 2003. General Motors will follow with hybrid cars, trucks, and commercial vehicles in 2004. Virtually all the auto manufacturers, foreign and domestic, are already looking beyond the hybrid to pure electric power. Most already have experimental cars that generate electricity onboard through the use of fuel cells, which convert hydrogen directly to electricity. They beat the hybrids because they can produce enough power without combustion-creating measurable emissions. They can extract the hydrogen needed from fuels other than gasoline, such as methane.