Alternative fuel vehicles

For Ashley High School senior Katie Mallard, alternative fuels are the way of the future.
“Gas prices aren’t going to stay low forever, they are going to jump again, resources aren’t going to last forever, gasoline will deplete one day, and if we get a head start on it, we will all be better,” said Mallard.

Mallard organized an alternative fuel car show at the Battleship. It was part of her senior project, it seemed to get a lot of attention. Drivers from all over spent the day showing off their hybrid, bio-diesel and electric cars. Topsail High School students Arik Jones and Robert Ward said there are good and bad things to owning an electric car. One good thing about it is you can plug it in at night and when you wake up in the morning it’s fully charged.

Robert Ward said, “Some cons might be that you might not get as far as you would with an electric charge that you would with a full tank of gas.”

Topsail High School senior Arik Jones said, “No emissions are good for the earth, we only have so many renewable resources, that we just have to go on.”

People took a walk around looking at the different cars. The big hit was the Volkswagon Jetta that runs on vegetable oil. The same oil that you use to fry up dinner. “A lot of them are normal cars that they bought, that a lot of people have that they converted and added stuff to their car to boost their gas mileage and be more environmentally friendly,” said Katie Mallard.

Ward said, “There is so much diversity in alternative fuels, you have your electric cars, your bio diesel.”

Katie Mallard hopes the high demand for alternative fuel cars is just beginning. With Hybrids driving off the lots in record numbers. Some say eventually these new technologies will eliminate the need for petroleum gasoline based engines.