National Transportation Week gives fuel for thought

DETROIT _ More than 20 of the vehicles from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler and Honda Motor Co. were shown Monday at NextEnergy's testing facility in Detroit as part of National Transportation Week.

The vehicles included a fuel cell-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and a Chevrolet Volt concept sedan, and a couple of tank-like General Purpose Vehicles built by the CMI-Schneible Group.

Also part of the display was the tiny, fuel-efficient Smart Fortwo subcompact that will go on sale in early 2008. The event was part of the marketing rollout for the car, which will be sold in the United States through Roger Penske's UnitedAuto Group.

The little car, which was on display at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in January, is part of DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes Car Group.

With gas prices above $3 a gallon and climbing, the two-seat vehicles that offer 40 mpg are expected to be in demand. Nearly 800,000 of the vehicles have been sold in Europe over the last decade, with the latest versions of the Smart Fortwo priced from about $12,000 to $17,000.

NextEnergy, along with the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, is hosting National Transportation Week, which has been around since 1962. This year, Detroit becomes the event's permanent home.

NextEnergy is an alternative energy business incubator that hosts high-tech start-up businesses working to produce commercially viable alternative transportation fuel products.

"The fuels that will power all forms of transportation in the future will largely be alternative fuels, such as those being developed by the companies we nurture at NextEnergy every day," said Jim Croce, chief executive officer of NextEnergy.

"The fact that National Transportation Week has a permanent home in Detroit is very significant in our estimation," said Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. "This is no longer the old Detroit, but a new cutting-edge, technologically innovative Detroit."

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