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Earth Day Experience in Morristown fetes sustainability
The first Earth Day in 1970 gave voice to the millions of Americans fed up with oil spills, air pollution and gas-guzzling cars. It birthed the modern environmental movement and led to the creation of the EPA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment.
The complex battle to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations continues, but here on South Street in Morristown, progress is apparent.
Morristown is home to a growing number of government agencies, businesses, schools, houses of worship and non-profit organizations working to protect the future with a mindfulness of impacts on land, community, environment.
That’s why we are celebrating Earth Day this year at Earth Day Experience. Produced by Sustainable Morristown, many of these entities will come together for a day of fun from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at the DeHart Street parking garage.
Attendees can sample and purchase locally sourced and organic treats, view exhibits by green product and service providers, sit in the driver’s seat of a hybrid car and take in a live musical act on a rooftop stage. A community garage sale — tables still available — will offers residents a chance to put the mantra “reduce, reuse and recycle” into practice.
To help tell the story of Earth Day Experience, we’ve asked many of the participants to contribute to today’s Grassroots. Read on to find out more information, and don’t forget to stop by Grassroots’ table to meet the editor and make a hat with recycled newspaper.
Clean rides on display at Grassroots Hybrid-Electric Car Show
Grassroots is the proud sponsor of the Hybrid and Electric Car Show — an opportunity to kick some tires, try out the driver’s seat and ask your burning questions of the experts on hand.
We asked two area car dealers who will be at the show with their fuel efficient hybrid and electric vehicles to give for an overview of the cars.
Lexus CT 200h: 'Once you own and drive one, you'll never want another car'
Carl Braunschweiger of Lexus of Route 10 will show off the luxury brand’s newest hybrid, the CT 200h. Starting at $29,120, the CT 200h gets 43 miles per gallon city and 40 mpg highway for a combined mpg of 42. It has many environmentally friendly components like bamboo stereo speakers that use less energy and are more recyclable and floor mats made from recycled materials.
Carl Braunschweiger: The coolest thing about our cars is the technology used to make and run them. The Lexus hybrids have regenerative brakes that convert the kinetic energy of inertia into electric energy to recharge its battery. They are self-sustaining and therefore can go up to 450 miles on one tank of gas — you just refill the tank with gas and you’re off and driving again. The hybrids also pollute up to 90 percent less hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. The technology is also tried and proven having been built for over six years now.
What makes this car different from other fuel efficient cars?
The thing that sets our hybrids apart from others is that ours are asymmetrical. You can drive them in three separate modes. You can drive them EV mode, which is all Electric Vehicle mode, in other words only using the battery, you can drive on just the gas engine and you can drive them with a combination of gas and electric (battery) working together.
How often do customers ask about hybrids?
About 80 percent of our customers are looking for better fuel efficiency. Lexus offers five different hybrid vehicles to cater to different needs. I would say about 10 percent of our customers end up buying hybrids. That percentage fluctuates with the price of gas. However, more and more people are buying them for the “green” or environmental reasons rather than for mileage alone.
Has interest increased over time? Why or why not?
Interest has increased over time as people learn more about the technology. Most people come in wanting to drive one but have no idea how they work. One common misconception is that the hybrid cars require more maintenance. That is untrue, in fact just the opposite, the hybrid require less maintenance which saves you money. For example when using the regenerative brakes you save on brake pads so hybrids can go two to three times longer without replacing the car’s brake pads. Lexus makes high-mileage hybrids, high-performance hybrids, AWD hybrids, and luxury (full size) hybrids.
What’s it like driving a hybrid?
Once you own and drive one, you’ll never want another car. I have two cars: an SUV and the hybrid. The hybrid gets double the gas mileage of the SUV. The hybrids are small but that’s how they get great gas mileage. For 99 percent of my driving needs, I don’t need a large (gas guzzling) vehicle. I have gotten several compliments on how “cool” the car looks when I leave it in parking lots. Also, when you drive the car you can pull up an engineering diagram of the hybrid system while its functioning and see how the different components are working to maximize fuel economy. The car has an ECO-mode that retards the air conditioning and heating systems to be more fuel efficient. The ECO-mode also desensitizes the electric throttle to maximize gas mileage. One of the other “cool” things (pun intended) about the car is that in the wintertime the car recycles its own exhaust fumes to heat up the engine more quickly and therefore burn more efficiently to — again — get better gas mileage. It also warms the car’s heater up very quickly.
MSRP does not include delivery, processing and handling fee of $895. Excludes taxes, title, license and optional equipment.
© 2006-2013 Lexus, a Division of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A, Inc. All information contained herein applies to U.S. vehicles only.