The Car of the Future Today

SEE ALSO: "A More Perfect Fit"

Washington DC May 6, 2008; The AIADA newsletter reported that as gasoline prices soar, big V-8 powered muscle machines are gathering dust on dealer lots.

Sales of small cars are surging. The government is ordering steep increases in new vehicle fuel economy in the cause of reducing America's reliance on foreign oil.

If you're waiting for a plug-in hybrid or an all-electric car to solve these problems, you'll have to be patient until at least to 2010.

But there are mainstream, name-brand cars you can buy today that can vault you all the way to 2011 or 2012 - at least in terms of the new fuel-efficiency targets the Bush administration.

One such car is Honda's Fit. The Fit gets 30 mpg. and according to the Wall Street Journal, at $3.51 a gallon, a Fit would burn up about $1,753 in gasoline during 15,000 miles of driving. Compare that to a Tahoe, which would siphon $3,291 out of your wallet. So are we all ready to drive cars like the Fit?

A lot more of us are than were a year ago. The Power Information Network's analysis of vehicles traded by people buying Fits shows that the top three trade-ins are larger Honda models.