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Seeing A New Kind Of Green

Submitted by Inspector 35, March 28, 2011
Courtesy Mercedes-Benz
I spend about 50% of my time as a AAA inspector away from home on the road performing due diligence insuring that AAA Approved hotels and restaurants provide positive experiences for our membership.  In doing so, I truly enjoy the interaction I have with the owners and operators of properties as well as AAA members I happen to meet. On occasion, a different type of encounter occurs and such an event presented itself just the other day.

I was standing outside of my hotel in a fairly remote town enjoying the sunset when a procession of seventeen vehicles pulled into the parking lot.  “Well, what do we have here?” I asked myself.  
I drive some 35.000 miles a year in my territory and, with the ever-increasing costs for traditional fuels, have often wondered about alternative energy sources for automobiles and their practicality for the “road warrior” segment of our population. The biggest obstacle I have found is one of distance; so far I haven’t found a vehicle that can travel the long distances I drive on a daily basis. The other difficulty one might encounter is a convenient source of these alternative fuels; in all my travels, I haven’t noticed too many electric outlets by the side of the road where the traveler can plug in and “fill up” their car.  There may be a glimmer of hope along these lines as I actually reviewed a AAA-recommended hotel that provides five re-charging parking places on their property with the added bonus of providing this service for free!    While it's unusual to find a hotel that provides this amenity, it is a start in the right direction.

In order to possibly address this issue with driving distances, Mercedes-Benz decided to plan a little drive in the country.  More accurately, I should use the word “countries” as the group I met is taking a trip around the world testing and displaying their F-Cell technology, a hydrogen based energy source that emits no hazardous dioxides.  The caravan I encountered the other night included three B-class test vehicles and fourteen support units.

Their journey began in Stuttgart, Germany in January and continued through Italy, France and Spain.  Since driving from Barcelona to the United States is a bit of a challenge, the team flew to Miami where leg two of the journey began with planned stops in Orlando, New Orleans and San Antonio.  I met up with them on their next leg while they were driving to Phoenix and then Las Vegas.  Then it’s on to the West Coast with stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and finally Vancouver.

Like the segment from Spain to the United States, the drive from Canada to Sydney, Australia poses some difficulties, so the team will fly once again. After driving from Sydney to Perth they will take to skies for a final time, arriving in Shanghai, China. Their longest driving segment begins in Shanghai as they will travel across China into Mongolia and then cross Siberia finally reaching the Ural Mountains with an official stop in Moscow before going through Finland, Sweden and Norway before arriving back in Germany in June.

What a fabulous six month adventure, I truly wish I could have been a member of the team!  

Read the F-Cell World Drive blog
Read more about AAA and alternative vehicles on the AAA Exchange.
[AAA Today], [Inspector Diaries], [Travel Stories]
See all posts by this author | Permalink | Comments (2)

About the Author

  • Image Inspector 35 After spending more than 30 years in the high tech industry traveling all over the world, Inspector 35 joined AAA in 2001 as a natural extension of prior experiences.  His huge Texas territory (as wide as the distance from New Orleans to Chicago), keeps him busy checking out places and visiting with great people every day on behalf of AAA members.  During time away from rating hotels and restaurants, Inspector 35 is an avid reader and enjoys the Caribbean and extended cruises.

Comments (2)

Submitted by Matt Lyle, March 28. 2011 17:37
Inspector 35:

Thanks for your Close Encounter of the Fusion Kind. I agree about the trip... get the TourBooks and TripTiks and away we go.........

I had a simular experience about 5 years ago attending a tourism meeting at the National Wildlife Visitor Center, Laurel, MD... just outside Washington, DC. General Motors was using part of the parking lot to demo their fusion cars. They had several cars and they had invited members of Congress and their staff to test drive and view the cars. It was impressive with huge trailers and tents touting the future of fusion energy... the same energy as the sun! And if I remember correctly.. they use hydrogen and exhust water vapor.

And since then we have hybrids, all electric cars and gas heading to $4.00 a gallon and beyond....fusion cars may be in all our driveways in the near future.

Submitted by Inspector 37, March 29. 2011 08:51
How cool to come across experimental Mercedes on a world-wide trip.

I would love an electric car and would pay the premium to snub my nose at gas prices. Can I expect AAA road-side service for an electric car?

In the last few months, a couple of hotel operators told me about cheerfully fulfilling guest's requests to park near accessible outlets to recharge their EV's (electronic vehicles). It's inevitable, and couldn't occur soon enough for this AAA inspector.


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