• Cars for Clunkers program runs until November 1st, 2009 – or until funds run out
• Car must to be less than 25 years old
• Cars must average 18MPG or less (exceptions exist for very large vehicles)
• Car must be owned, registered and insured for 12 months in owner’s name before trade in. Must provide Proof of Insurance and Registration to dealership
• Car must have a clear title, without any liens or encumbrances.
• Car must be in drivable condition
• Cars traded-in must be scrapped, meaning the car will be turned into scrap metal (worth a few hundred at most)
• Depending on trade-in, a $3,500 or $4,500 credit is applied toward purchase of new vehicle
• Cannot participate in CARS program more than once

The program has these requirements to prevent explicit abuse of the Cash For Clunkers program. Otherwise, owners could simply drive to the junkyard in Renton or Everett, buy a junk pickup truck for a hundred dollars and tow it to the dealership for a essentially a free rebate.

Having a scrapping requirement is also interesting, as it limits newer cars from participating in the program due to the immediate trade in loss. This means that the owner of a 2003 Toyota Corolla would not be inclined to participate in Cars for Clunkers as their vehicle still has a $7000 trade in value. By participating in the program, they would only receive a $3,500 to $4,500 credit plus scrap value toward the purchase of a new car.

How Much Cash Credit Do I Get for my Trade In?

If your vehicle qualifies for the Cash For Clunkers program, dealerships that participate are required to offer you an instant credit/rebate toward the purchase of a new, fuel efficient vehicle. The rebate differs depending on the type of vehicle you are purchasing and the difference in fuel economy between your trade-in and newer vehicle.

Trading in old passenger car for new passenger car:
Fuel economy improvement from 4 to 10 MPG: $3,500 credit
Fuel economy improvement over 10 MPG: $4,500 credit

Trading in old passenger car for new truck:
Fuel economy improvement from 2 to 5 MPG: $3,500 credit
Fuel economy improvement over 5 MPG: $4,500 credit

Trading in old truck to new truck:
Fuel economy improvement from 1 to 2 MPG: $3,500 credit
Fuel economy improvement over 2 MPG: $4,500 credit

While Seattle is primarily a city of passenger vehicles, the Cash for Clunkers program is a huge (some would say ridiculous) incentive for owners of old trucks or SUVs. The short of it is that if your car has a trade-in value less than $4,500, the program is an incredibly incentive to purchase a new car.

How does the Cash For Clunkers Trade Process Work with the Dealership

Though many sources mention that a voucher is required to participate, that is not true. You need no paperwork and during the trade in, the dealer handles all of the paperwork between them and the NHTSA. Provided that your trade in meets the qualifications for the Cash for Clunkers program, the $3,500 or $4,500 credit is immediately applied toward your new car.

There have been some reports coming out about dealerships (though none we’ve heard about in Seattle) telling customers that they will receive a rebate check from the NHTSA directly, the trade in needs to be held until cleared, or that there are fees or contracts to participate in the program. All of these practices are against the terms of the program and the NHTSA even asks that you report dealerships who tell you this. To repeat, the program takes no filing of paper work on the consumer side – only proof of meeting the requirements of the trade in.

However, some dealerships are wary of the Cash for Clunkers program because of the potential financial risk. It takes ten days after submitting the paperwork to the NHTSA for the dealership to know whether or not they will be credited for the trade-in. In the event they are not credited, the dealer will be out of $3,500 or $4,500 credit. This puts the onus on the dealer to correctly inspect and file the paperwork.

Most dealerships, especially those in the Seattle area, that we have talked to, are thrilled about the program – and rightly so. The Cash for Clunkers program may well be a financial stimulus program for the auto industry and a much needed rescue for domestic automakers like GM.

So, if you were thinking about trading in your old vehicle, seriously consider the Cash for Clunkers program, as it may be the best financial incentive in history to trade up for a new car. The program ran out of money within the first two weeks when it first rolled around earlier this year, so even though the program expires on the first of November, there is a good chance the program will be out of cash far before then.

Do you dread high pressure salesmen? Are you being scammed by the financing manager? Consumers all say that buying a car is worse than a visit to the dentist. Don’t have a bad experience – contact us at today sales@seattleauto.net to get you in touch with our professional auto broker who will treat you with the utmost care. Sign the papers in your own living room and have the car delivered to your door at dealer prices!

Step 6: How to Set a Price For Your Car

The trickiest part of the negotiating game is to set a price that is fair to both you and the dealership. As good or bad as a dealership might be, they still have to make a profit. In fact, you might be surprised to hear that dealerships average about a mere 1% profit per year on total sales.

Normally, I advise to set a general price point around 1% to 3% over dealer invoice on a new vehicle (that’s $200 to $600 for a $20,000 vehicle). In the current economic situation however, dealers are becoming very desperate, so it’s reasonable to aim for invoice pricing and even lower. Checking with sites like Edmunds.com is a good way to figure out what other people have been paying for similar vehicles.

Figuring out the price on a used car is a bit more tricky, but uses the same method. What you want to do is find the wholesale value on the car you’re looking at. This can be estimated by using the Kelly Blue Book and finding the trade-in value of the vehicle. After that, you should add about 10% on top of that value to get a pricing figure. Note that the auto industry and your dealership doesn’t use Blue Book pricing, but instead use what is called the Black Book. This is a wholesale pricing guide similar to Kelly’s Blue Book. While the the pricing is different, it’s similar enough for your needs.

In addition to standard profit percentages, there are many other things that can effect how much you should expect to pay:

• Base car price: The pricier the vehicle, the more you generally pay in mark-up.
• Vehicle lot age: The longer a vehicle sits, the less flexible the price due to reduction in holdback profit
• Demand and supply: Hot cars will simply demand more money
• Day of month: End of the month is better due to monthly sales quotas
• Month: End of the year (Nov, Dec) is also better due to yearly sales quotas
• Dealership: Each dealership has a different philosophy on price point
• Salesman: Each sales guy you meet will be different – some flexible, some not
• Manufacturer: Different auto makers have different holdback percentages, which affect how low a dealer is willing to go

Also, be sure to look up any current factory to dealer or customer incentives on new vehicles. Throughout the year, many manufacturers have a rebate or other incentive to help spur sales, which usually ranges from $1,000 to $5,000 in cash back, 0.00% APR or other goodies. These are the biggest savings you’ll receive on a car purchase and should not be overlooked.

Lastly, it’s a common myth that you can get a great deal by buying a car in cash. Unfortunately, that is not true – and in fact, probably the opposite of the truth. Dealerships can make thousands of dollars on the financing side of a sale, so it’s actually in their interest that you finance a vehicle through them. 

Step 7: The Actual Sales Negotiation

This is the part everybody hates. Your friendly salesman seats you across from him, offers you the coffee or a soda and then asks the magic question: “What would it take for you to drive home with this vehicle today?” Every salesman asks this question in the hope you might be that 1 in 100 sucker that actually replies by saying you’ll take it for sticker price.

Of course, you know better and will reply with the price determined in Step 6. Upon hearing this, your sales guy will make a sour face (don’t worry, they make this face for every reply they get – even sticker price). Your sales guy will say something to the extent of, “Boy, I don’t think this is going to fly with my manager, but I might be able to work something out,” and proceed to head to the sales manager’s office.

This type of sales tactic is used by 99% of the dealerships out there and is known commonly as the “Good Cop, Bad Cop” routine. Your salesman pretends to be your friend, working for your side, while the “evil” manager is working against all of you. Of course, it’s all a well-rehearsed theater that has been performed hundreds, if not thousands of times by your salesman.

The purpose of this sales tactic is subversive, in that it attempts to make you think you are powerless in the decision making process. Emotionally frustrated individuals will then resign themselves to giving control of the process to their salesman and his sales manager – which is exactly what the dealership wants.

When your salesman returns, he will come back with an initial price thousands more than the price you stated. This is just typical push-pull negotiation that tries to shock you into submission – which is why you should completely ignore what he comes back with. Simply stick to the plan and state that you want the price you originally mentioned. Not a cent more.

At this point, your friendly salesman will quickly realize that you mean business and will unleash every sales tactic at his disposal. Among the wide range of tactics you might encounter are:

• Blame: You’re being unreasonable, we would lose money, I need to make a living
• Deflection: My manager won’t let me, I wish I could help you guys
• Disinformation: Your printed invoice is wrong, the price has gone up recently
• Distraction: Let’s talk about your trade-in or financing instead
• False Logic: This is a popular car, this is our last model on the lot
• Hostility: You’re wasting my time, my manager is angry at you guys, I’m getting tired of this
• Lies: We added feature X to the car (not on manufacturer sticker), had to replace the windshield or repaint that car
• Persuasion: You’ve already won- this is the lowest we’ve ever gone, you’ll look great in that car
• Pressure: C’mon- let’s do it (repeat), don’t you want a new car today, this is a one time deal
• Stonewall: That’s our best offer, we can’t go any lower
• Tag Team: “Hi, I’m Jim the finance guy. Steve here tells me you guys want to clean us out!”
• Urgency: We have another buyer who just needs to get financing, take it or leave it

Depending on your salesman, this can be a very stressful situation for you – which again, is another reason to be emotionally prepared for negotiations. Your salesman knows that trying to debate you rationally will probably be a losing cause (i.e., explaining the need for $3,000 profit on a $20,000 car), so most sales tactics rely on pushing your emotional buttons. Again, just remember that is is all theater and to stay calm.

What you should do during negotiations is stick to your guns and ask for the price point you came in at. Say little and stay on the topic of sale price. You can expect that after 20 to 30 minutes of this, your salesman will either collapse and give-in, or you will have a stalemate. In the event of the stalemate, where the dealer refuses to go any lower, you’ll have to make your own call on whether or not their figure is reasonable. If it’s within $100 or $200, you might just say fine. If it’s more, it may be in your interest to say, “Thanks for your time” and walk.

Many people have an aversion to walking out of a dealership, almost as if it’s a social offense. It’s odd, because that couldn’t be further from the truth. Walking out of a dealership is like walking out of Macy’s without a buying new sweater – it simply means you didn’t like what you saw and will now shop elsewhere. A car dealership is the very same way; either both parties are happy or there’s no deal. 

If you’re willing to walk out after 30 minutes, you could easily hit up three different dealerships in the same day and figure out who is willing to offer you the lowest deal. That’s how the school car negotiations worked before the days of the internet, when consumers didn’t know car pricing and only through walking, could buyers find out how low dealers were willing to go. It’s time consuming and not for everyone, but it works.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of the Car Negotiation Guide

While we recommend a defensive driving class to truly learn defensive driving, here are ten easy tips on how to improve your own defensive skills every day:

1. Minimize Distractions: Ironically, the person that is the greatest threat to your own safety on the road is yourself. Cell phones, music, passengers or munching on a burger are examples of distractions in the car. The NHTSA and various scientific studies have all shown that distractions are the number one reason behind car accidents and fatalities on the road. Teen drivers in particular suffer the most from distractions and incidentally, are the most accident prone.

Reality check: We at Seattle Auto are human and understand that you’re going to talk illegally on your cell phone (yes, we’re talking to you Seattle residents), rock out to your iPod or have the occasional taco in the car. It just happens. What you can do, is limit yourself to one distraction and tone it down. So don’t talk on the phone and stuff french fries at the same time, but wait until your call is over to eat. While you’re talking, focus on the road first rather than your phone call – and better yet, make the conversation short and call back later if necessary.

2. High Eyes Driving: Race drivers use a technique called “high eyes” that call for the driver (you) to focus not on the car in front of you, but on the road horizon. Many drivers become fixated on the car in front of them and go into auto-pilot mode, braking when the car in front brakes, accelerating when the car in front accelerates and so on. The problem is that in a panic stop situation, if the driver in front wasn’t paying attention to begin with – guess what – you’re probably going to eat the end of his bumper. Both 520 and I-90 have little to no blind corners, so it’s no excuse to suddenly find yourself slamming on the brakes because you “didn’t see” the traffic jam up ahead.

By keeping your eyes high up, you’ll be looking at the entire traffic pattern up ahead instead. This gives you ample time to react to a sudden emergency up front – even giving you time to decide if you need to perform a quick lane toss or start slowly braking to give the guy behind you a warning.

3. Minimize Lane Changes: It’s rare for a car to be rear ended while traveling the speed limit in it’s own lane. It is common for accidents to happen while a car is changing lanes; perhaps by suddenly cutting off a car, swiping another vehicle in it’s blind spot or two cars merging into the same lane. By choosing a lane and sticking with it for the majority of your trip, you will remove a great deal of the factors that are known to cause accidents on the highway.

4. Spot Fast Lane Changers: The flip side to not being a lane changer, is that you must be highly aware of the drivers who are. These are often the drivers who dangerously dart in and out of traffic, cutting off and swerving around drivers in the process.

Regularly monitor your rear and side view mirrors to be on the lookout for drivers that are approaching rapidly from behind or the lane next to you. These are bad drivers that will often cut in front or around you at the last second, narrowly missing your car. Deal with these drivers by maintaining your speed or even slowing down if you feel they are going to cut in front of you. Don’t become a vigilante and speed up to box them into the adjacent lane; you don’t want an erratic driver who likely has road rage tailing you on the freeway. Simply let them pass and be happy they are away from your car.

5. Spot Blind Lane Changers: Not only are there the jerks driving recklessly, but you have to worry about the absent minded driver that never checks their blind spot before changing into your lane. These guys are actually harder to spot than the jerk drivers, because it’s harder to predict when these types drivers are about to change lanes.

The best way to avoid these drivers is to not drive in their blind spot to begin with. If you ever find yourself in the another car’s blind spot, you should either A) accelerate so that your car is parallel to the other vehicle so they can easily see you or B) slow down so that you are tailing the vehicle and no longer next to it. Option B is the more preferable method depending on your car’s positioning and you should only use option A if you are already close to the front hood of the other car.

It’s hard to keep by this rule in heavy traffic, because you’ll always be next to a car, but you can usually identify a driver that is about to change lanes if the driver looks in their side view mirror, the car has just merged from an on-ramp, the driver is suddenly accelerating or decelerating or if the car is slowly starting to drift toward one lane. With practice, you can become very good at figuring out when another car is about to lane change and avoid being in their blind spot when it happens.

6. Don’t Make Eye Contact: Studies show that many road rage incidents occur when drivers make eye contact with each other and a situation ensues. As a defensive driver, you need to realize that road rage drivers are often looking to instigate trouble, rather than simply reacting to perceived sleights against them. Making eye contact with these types of drivers is playing into their twisted game, so you want to avoid getting into a petty fight with someone driving a 2,000 pound vehicle; regardless of who is right or wrong.

So next time you see that tail gating jerk come next to your car and pace you, just ignore them and don’t give them the pleasure they’re looking for. Simply drive on as usual and they will eventually leave you alone.

7. Look Both Ways at Intersections: Intersections are inherently dangerous places and the scene of many t-bone accidents. Most drivers, upon seeing a green light, amble straight on through without a second thought; and that’s usually when the driver running the red light smashes into their side.

If you are ever the first car at the intersection when the light is turning green, you should be extremely aware of your left, then right side traffic as you make your way through. I’ve almost been hit twice this way and both times slammed on my brakes before the other car barely clipped my front-end. Any police officer will tell you that the amount of drivers who run red lights is astounding – enough to make you think twice and look twice before going through an intersection.

8. Know When and How to Swerve: This is probably the absolutely hardest point to get across, because it honestly takes hours of experience behind the steering wheel to learn. The concept of swerving is applied to emergency situations where you don’t have enough time to avoid an accident (which is why we have rule #1 above).

If for example, a child suddenly runs into the busy street 20 feet in front of your car, it will be physically impossible for your car to stop in that amount of distance while traveling at 40mph. In that specific situation, your only option is to try and swerve and steer clear of the object in front of the car as fast as you can. This same principle applies to a sudden wreck on the highway, fallen tree, deer or any other danger that takes you by surprise.

To properly swerve (also called a “lane toss”), you need to be certain that A) the lane you’re swerving into is empty B) your car can handle the maneuver and C) you correct your swerve immediately afterward so you don’t end up on the side of the road. Item A can be achieved by constantly being aware of your surroundings, but for B and C, you can only understand those by taking your car out to an empty parking lot and practicing for a few hours with cones. That- or you can take a defensive driving class.

9. Get Away From Bad Drivers: You should always do your best to keep a healthy distance between yourself and other bad drivers on the road. Problematic drivers include: drunks, speeders, tail gaters, road ragers, lane changers, extremely slow drivers and any other erratic behavior. Most of the time, this involves switching lanes and slowing down so that a speeder or drunk can pass you safely. You never want erratic drivers behind you because there is always the potential of getting rear ended.

In other scenarios, if you see a erratic driver and need to pass, make sure you do it quickly and safely as possible – trying to keep a lane between you and them if possible. If you cannot keep a distance in front of the car, due to traffic or other reasons, try to stay a distance behind the other car and never drive directly next to it. You should also report erratic driving to the Washington State Highway Patrol or the Seattle Police department (you can call 911 directly) as the police will be on the lookout for erratic or drunk drivers if enough reports come in.

10. Don’t Follow Too Closely: Saving one of the best tips for last, don’t follow too closely behind the car in front of you. Always give at least 2-3 second of buffer room. Experts will tell you 4 seconds, although this author’s personal opinion is that it actually invites other drivers to cut into the lane in front of you. If you drive an SUV however, you must make this at least a 3 second rule because your vehicle is heavy and takes much longer to come to a complete stop than passenger cars.

While this may sound like a tip that applies to simply being a better driver, this tip actually has defensive driving principles for emergency situations as well. The reason is that in the event of a panic stop in the lane up ahead, you will ideally have buffer room to brake and stop. This helps the driver behind you as well because it aids in their reaction time and stopping distance – a big plus if they haven’t been paying attention, are slow to react or drive a vehicle with long braking distance (like a SUV).

We hope you enjoyed these quick tips on defensive driving. If you are interested in getting professional training behind the wheel, we recommend you visit any one of the defensive driving courses throughout the Seattle area.

“It drives like a car with the utility of an SUV,” says Ken Thompson of Doxon Toyota of Auburn. ” But with the Venza you don’t have the stigma of having a big bulky SUV, yet it has all the features that you’d need in a utility vehicle, most notably having the carrying capacity of an SUV.”

Toyota based the Venza, not on a RAV4 or a Highlander, but on it’s most popular car. The Venza’s chassis is based on that of a Camry, in theory making it very maneuverable. What’s the most impressive could be the efficiency of the engine. The 6 cylinder AWD will get  roughly 18/25hwy while the front wheel drive 6 cylinder will get 21/29hwy. With a 1000 lb. towing capacity and 268 horsepower, the numbers are impressive.  Toyota dealerships are getting in a few at a time, starting with the 6 cylinders followed by the 4 cylinder sometime in January.

Looking at it, and considering all the cross features like gas mileage and the sleek lines, the Venza was built for the Seattle driver. It handles like a sedan, has the Star safety system for security on those long trips over the pass, and has the efficiency for everyday use. Since it’s a true crossover, you can drive it like a car or SUV, it has versatility for almost anything.

“Wow is the word I hear from people who ask about,” claims Thompson standing by the Venza display at the Seattle Auto Show. ” I just heard one guy say to another, ‘looks like Toyota came up with another winner.’ ”

The folks at Toyota call it a crossover sedan, not an SUV. It’s similar to that of the Nissan Murano and Subaru Tribeca. Starting price for a new 2009 Toyota Venza is between $25,000-$29,000 based on FWD or AWD.

Toyota may have taken it’s time to enter into the true crossover category, but it’s Venza may end up of being the best of them all. 

Check out the specs

• 2.7-liter double overhead cam (DOHC) 16-valve dual independent VVT-i 4-cylinder; 182 hp @ 5800 rpm, 182 lb.-ft. @ 4200 rpm    
• 3.5-liter double overhead cam (DOHC) 24-valve dual independent VVT-i V6; 268 hp @ 6200 rpm, 246 lb.-ft. @ 4700 rpm
• Seating Capacity for 5 Adults
• 1000lb Towing Capacity
• 70.1 Cubic Feet of Cargo Capacity
• P245/55R19 Tire Size – 4 Cylinder
• P245/50R20 Tire Size- 6 Cylinder

See the full 2009 Venza specs

(The test drive feature article is coming soon. Dealerships are just having a hard time keeping them in stock.)

Usually the ATV and UTV’s of the world have next to nothing to do with being earth conscious or eco-friendly. The Bad Boy vehicle brings both worlds together.

“This electric buggy option is great especially when it comes to wildlife,” explains Selah Willard, Executive VP of Bad Boy Enterprises. “The Bad Boy is so quiet it won’t disturb the environment. It’s like going to a petting zoo when I’m on it, I can get real close and not threaten or scare the wildlife, like if I was on an ATV.”

The Bad Boys efficiency gets about 35 miles per battery charge and can reach up 20mph. There are actually two 15.5 DC motors on the front and back which provides power and a drive train that is nearly silent. The low noise decibels have become the biggest selling point. In fact, the company’s slogan is, “They’ll Never Hear You Coming.” 

Going into their sixth year, the Mississippi based Bad Boy Enterprises has sold well over 11,000 of their electric charged buggies in the United States. However, the majority of their sales are coming from the South where the vehicle is primarily used for hunting. However, Bad Boy wants to expand their client base and connect with an eco conscious demographic as well.

“This [Seattle] is the perfect area for it,” says Willard at the Seattle Auto Show. “We certainly have a built in customer base with folks who like to hunt, but we would love to expand that and be considered by Earth conscious urban dwellers who want to vacation at the beach or mountains.”   
 
At $9,995 for the base model, the Bad Boy Buggy is competitively priced. In terms of popularity, the electric Bad Boy has star appeal. On the company’s website, there are celebrity testimonials from various country music stars and hunting experts. ESPN’s Bow Hunting Pro Tom Miranda says “If you think the Bad Boy is a golf cart of steroids you haven’t driven one. A better definition is a “mini electric Hum-Vee.”

 
Bad Boy Buggy Specs (website)
Engine
Engine Type: Dual Electric DC Motors
Horsepower: 2 – 15.5 hp – 31 hp total
Torque: 170 foot pounds
Drive Train
Drive: Direct drive front & rear
4WD: Auto & full time 4WD, switch on the fly
Tires
Front Tires: 22 x 9 -10
Rear Tires: 22 x 9 -10
Dimensions
Wheelbase: 69 in
Length: 113 in
Width: 53 in
Height: 83 in
Dry Weight: 1650 lbs
Turning Radius: 14.58 ft
Ground Clearance: 8.25 in
Clearance @ Center of Frame: 16.5 in
Load Capacity
Cargo Bed: 800 lbs
Front Basket: 40 lbs
Roof Rack: 75 lbs
Vehicle Payload: 1000 lbs
Colors
Camo, Hunter Green, Red, B

Do you know how many hourly jobs GM has laid off from 2006 to July 2008? Take a guess. How about 34,000? And now, they’re talking about another 5,500 layoffs.

…

OK, here’s a better question. How many hourly jobs has Toyota’s American production system laid off in the same time frame? Zero. That’s right. ZERO. How? Isn’t Toyota experiencing the same slow down in auto sales as GM is? Yes, it is. And yes, Toyota has halted production at its Texas and Indiana plants for the past 3 months. But the 4,500 people who work at those plants have not been laid off. 

 

The answer: Toyota has a special culture, deep-rooted values, and respect for their workforce. Toyota’s tradition is to NOT lay off employees during hard times. This tradition hasn’t really been put to the test until now. And Toyota has stuck to its guns and its values.

“This was the first chance we’ve really had to live out our values,” says Latondra Newton, general manager of Toyota’s Team Member Development Center in Erlanger, Ky. “We’re not just keeping people on the payroll because we’re nice. At the end of all this, our hope is that we’ll end up with a more skilled North American workforce.”

 

For the full article: What Toyota knows that GM doesn’t

My thoughts on this is two fold. First, I’m impressed with Toyota as a consumer. Second, I’m sentimental to the fact that this really is the end of the American car industry. 

Back in the 80s, when America stopped importing “cheap” Japanese cars and Lee Iacocca was making history at Chrysler, the American car industry seemed pretty much unstoppable. The “Big Three” were called that because they were actually the biggest – not because they are the only ones left standing – as is the case today. 

Through mergers and acquisitions, the industry, even with all it’s clashes with the union, the auto industry had the history of supporting it’s workers and ensuring a career out of tens of thousands of skilled laborers at a time that many corporations dumped their workers en masse. 

But that was then and this is now. 

In a surreal flip, it would now appear that those clunky Japanese car companies are the industry leaders today; and have been for more than a decade. While Detroit was drinking the oil-is-forever koolaid and pumping out beefier and bigger engines, the Japanese were hard at work perfecting their engines and builds to six-sigma and improving efficiency.

With gas hitting $4 a few months ago and the credit crisis, it wasn’t so much that the Japanese won the bet, but rather, Detroit found itself with an empty hand. Saddled with factories meant to churn out beefy SUVs, Hummers and trucks, the new paradigm in energy and economics poured cold water all over the roaring party up until this point. 

GM is losing a billion dollars a month and will likely buy out Chrysler. Layoffs in the 30,000 – 40,000 range are to be expected, along with 12 factories closing. Morale is no doubt at an all time low, with every worker wondering if he’s next on the cutting block. Even if GM is able to magically survive with an infusion of cash (bailout), the Volt is still years out and a grasp for straws.

Meanwhile, Toyota has taken a page straight out of the American automaker book by proving its loyalty to the company workforce. Though Toyota is halted on much of its production, they are taking the down time to train their workers to be even better skilled, educated and efficient workers. When the economy picks up again, Toyota will be the equivalent of a fully rested team going to the playoffs against a miserable and beat-up team that has just played 10 losing games in a row. It’s no contest who will win. 

If the Seattle Auto Show was any indication, the consumers have already voted, as we saw crowds around Toyota, Honda and Jetta. All the while, the sprawling 2-ton Ford F150 rotating 360 degrees might as well been invisible. Chevy and Escalade Hybrids were looked on more with a sense of derision or perplexed bewilderment rather than consumer curiosity (though this is Seattle). 

The new automotive landscape is already here – it’s just across the sea. 

The ECH is unique even compared to other electric cars out in the market today. Fraik’s company Evergreen Electromotive designed it specifically not to go on highways or freeways. The ECH’s top speed is just over 35 mph (fast for electric vehicles). That extra power means the ECH can climb hills easier than other electric cars.

“I was tired of the gas guzzlers just like everyone else,” explains Fraik. “But the electric cars out on the market were kind of weak too. I’m a car guy and I like to drive. This (ECH) offers it all. You can do a lot at 35 miles per hour.”

Washington State’s House Bill 1820 back in 2007 made all the difference for Fraik and his electric car. The bill allowed zero emission vehicles to travel city and county roads up to 35 MPH without having to undergo federal highway crash testing.

“It costs a fortune to do federal crash testing,” Fraik says. “For the major car makers out there, the Fords, and Chevy’s of the world, they can pay millions for just the testing. It just wouldn’t be cost effective to build anything faster. That’s why it doesn’t go faster than 35 miles per hour.”

Along with the legislation and the possibility of reducing the national speed limits as a way to conserve, led to the creation of the ECH. But with a top speed at just over 35 MPH, how many people would want to buy?

“It’s the perfect Seattle car,” tells Fraik, getting into salesman mode. “I can get on the ferry with it, drive through downtown and get anywhere I want on the streets. Yeah there are other electric cars out there built in France and China, places like that . But this one, is built right here. It’s not just American built, it’s Washington built.”

As of right now, there’s only one ECH, the prototype seen at the Seattle Auto Show. Fraick’s goal is to have them in production in the early part of 2009, and he has eyes on making his ECH vehicles for the city and state.

Electric Composite Hatchback Stats
• Plugs into 110v Outlet
• Option of 80-10,000 miles per charge
• Top speed at 35MPH
• Can Seat 2 in front/2 in back
• Zero Emissions
• Estimated 2 cents per mile