40.0°

More than a decade ago, Paul Simpson promised that he'd drive an electric car before paying $5 for a gallon of gas.

Today, as gas prices race for the $4.50 mark and beyond, the welding shop owner is just a hard week's worth of work from stomping the pedal of a retrofitted four-wheel drive KIA holding a nine-inch 120-volt electric engine under the hood.

The small SUV's electric power plant will produce a torque equivalent of a 1,000 horsepower engine at any speed, Simpson said.

He is not your typical "greenie." Simpson didn't set out to reduce his carbon footprint with the car, but as long as Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. sends hydropower down the Snettisham line, his compact SUV will run carbon free.

He's not boycotting big business, either.

"This is not about the gas companies, they're in the business to make money," he said. "If we're dumb enough to pay ten dollars a gallon they should charge it."

Simpson is not going to pay 21st century gas prices to commute, and said his KIA will travel 75 miles on a single charge drawn from any standard outlet. The electric ride built from materials collected "garage sale" style will replace a 14 mpg Chevy S-10.

Filling the KIA's battery configuration at 11 cents per kilowatt-hour will cost $3.50. At today's gas price the financial equivalent comes to more than 75 miles per gallon, he said.

Juneau Resident Matt Day is dumfounded every time he sees a line of solo drivers in big SUVs rolling down Egan Drive during his commute from out the road to Bartlett Regional Hospital.

"There must be a lot of rich people in Juneau," Day said.

Last February, Day's family parked their Jeep Wrangler next to the 1958 Corvette in the garage and started driving the sub-subcompact Smart Car designed by Mercedes and Swatch.

"It gets the highest mileage of any car I know of," Day said.

Actual mileage depends on two factors, according to Day: "It depends on who drives; I zoom around, and she's more conservative."

Day's Smart Car is so small that it can be parked nose to the curb in a standard parallel stall. Its three-cylinder turbo-charged intercooled engine manages to get more than 55 miles per gallon. On the other hand, two adults and a 90-pound pitbull fit nicely for a drive, he said.

"We've yet to get sixty miles per gallon," Day said.

After six months, Day says the car is a winner. It does great on snow too, he said. The car's computer-aided traction control is programmed to offset cornering issues created by the car's tiny size - and it works wonders on Ice.

"It's really, really great on ice," he said.

Well beyond the "neat factor," Day's choice of car comes down to consciousness. He is disturbed that so many cars continue to burn fuel so inefficiently. Day figures that the Smart Car has reduced his gas consumption by 75 percent.

There is at least one other Smart Car darting around town, and the Toyota Prius is becoming ever more common, but it's hard to say how many green cars and trucks cruise the streets of the capital.

Alaska's Division of Motor Vehicles categorizes all 36,000 registered vehicles in Juneau as a car, motorcycle, or truck of some type. Carl Springer, DMV registrar, said the state doesn't differentiate how a vehicle is powered in its record keeping methods.

Steven Allwine, president of Mendenhall Auto Mall, said he's sold at least 30 Prius Hybrids in Juneau since taking over the franchise about one year ago. With none in stock, the next six are pre-sold, he said.

Allwine said a cross section of Juneau goes for the Prius, from green-minded folks looking to buy the next planet-saving gizmo, to smart commuters looking to stretch gas at $4 per gallon, to "techies" who want the car because of what it is.

Prius owner Sally Schlichting said she bought a Prius for its emissions record and less for its gas mileage. There could be cars that get better mileage, she said.

The Environmental Protection Agency backs up Toyota's clam of the Prius' 90 percent reduction in emissions overall compared to a traditional car and up to 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses.

Schlichting and her husband gave up a six-cylinder Mazda truck that managed 16 mpg and a Saab that got 23 mpg. Her 2006 Prius gets 49 mpg in the summer and 39 in the winter. Friends tell Schlichting they get upwards of 57 mpg from their Prius.

Schlichting, a musician, said she ended up surprised by what a nice car the Prius is overall, but in particular that you can fit a string quartet in it.

"Two violins, a viola, a cello and four adults," Schlichting said. "I think that's amazing. The car is bigger inside than it is outside."

As roomy as the Prius and smart cars are, people want bigger vehicles, Allwine said. Dodge Durango and Chevy Yukon will be available as hybrids soon and Toyota will offer the Highlander and Camry as hybrids, he said.

After seeing a Smart Car on a trip to Italy, Juneau businessman Rubin Willis parked his Dodge Hemi and climbed into a Smart Car of his own. Willis bought the European version of car for reasons other than great mileage, low emissions and the fact that the car itself is 90 percent recyclable.

The car is just plain "cool" and with tons of curb appeal it stands out. Willis said three to five people a day stop him with questions about the car.

It was with marketing in mind that Willis wrapped his in a giant State Farm Insurance design patterned after a company-sponsored NASCAR vehicle.

"It's quicker than my Hemi of the line," he said. "It's not shabby."

When he steps on the gas 700 cubic centimeters lightly throat up and the car jumps quickly to 40 mph. Cornering and breaking as well as any European compact or mid sized sedan, the Smart Car feels almost as big as a Volvo 70 while nearly tripling the mileage.

Though he didn't mean to, Willis knocked $400 off his monthly gas bill.