And when the gas engine does kick in, it burns far less fuel than a standard Prius because the system, with its extra batteries, has more electric power to draw on.
A $100 model can capture 95 percent of the harmful emissions while burning far less fuel to produce the same amount of energy.
Lines are gone, but many stations are receiving far less fuel than they need, said Sal Risalvato, director of the gasoline retailers' association.
One was the booming popularity of diesel engines, which burn far less fuel than gasoline engines and are now in one-third of all new cars sold here.
Toasting them requires far less fuel than boiling other beans, making them particularly attractive in third world areas where use of wood for fuel has already made deforestation a problem, and kerosene is expensive.
This brawnier version of the standard 1 Series is as quick as the larger M3 coupe, handles almost as well, drinks far less fuel and at $47,010 to start, costs some $13,000 less.
They faced new competitors, too: catamarans, known as "fast ferries," that are even more modern and faster than the Island Link, traveling 17 miles per hour and using far less fuel.
The growing popularity of large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks that are far less fuel efficient than cars has lowered the average fuel economy of the nation's vehicles in recent years.
"If drivers change their habits -- and they can with constant feedback -- they can complete the same journey in similar travel times using far less fuel," said Dr. Mascha van der Voort, who just finished her graduate work at the University of Twente in Enschede.
All the proposed plants would use either combined cycle generation, which uses far less fuel to produce the same amount of power, or cogeneration, which creates another energy product as part of the process.
But the motorway proposal is expected to receive stiff opposition from road safety campaigners and environmentalists who point out that cars are far less fuel efficient at the higher speed.
