Change: The kids don't love cars

Like Tweeting is so much more important

According to Cars.com a new JD Power study finds that "Teens and young adults, frequently referred to as “Generation Y” or “Millennials,” have far less of an interest in owning a car than previous generations."

The study found, “With the advent of social media and other forms of electronic communities teens perceive less of a need to physically congregate, and less of a need for a mode of transportation.”

Aside from the realization that telecommuting is probably going to become far more common as these gen-yers join the work place, ideas like car sharing and battery swapping are beginning to sound like legitimate business plans for the future of the auto consumer, or renter.

Car2go: A micro hybrid can be Smart

Pay as you go car sharing

Daimler has picked Austin, TX as the first US city to try its Car2go pay-as-you-go city transportation program.

Under Car2go, much like the Parisian Velib program, participants simply grab a car when they need one and leave it wherever they are when they don't need it - within a certain geographical area of course. Membership is free and the cost is just 19 cents per minute. (For more click here).

Smart will use micro hybrids - Smart cars with start stop technology that will enable these autos to shut the engine off when at rest to increase fuel efficiency and emissions reductions. Soon, however, Smart EVs could also be added to the program.

Now that's a very Smart idea.

Don't buy a hybrid! Share a hybrid

Hybrid car sharing

WeCar, is the new car sharing division of Enterprise. It doesn't reinvent car sharing, although it does use only hybrid cars in its fleet, which is pretty cool. Still, this whole car sharing thing really has me intrigued.

Foreign oil dependency. Global warming. High fuel prices. Financial crisis. Are more expensive hybrid cars and electric vehicles really the answer? Instead of just replacing our 13 million per year fleet of vehicles, why not less vehicles? Isn't it gluttonous consumerism, not just gas-guzzlers, that is really strangling America?

Bikes, scooters, tiny one-person microcars, and public transportation might not offer much bling for consumers, but for daily commuting, such forms of transportation are far more efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly than a plug-in Prius or a Chevy Volt. And all of these approaches can be supplemented with car sharing.

Instead of buying a Volt, might not the future be a better time to share a Volt?

HOURCAR's Solar PHEV sharing begins

Clean, green car sharing

Minneapolis based HOURCAR is now offering two plug-in hybrid vehicles that utilize solar power to recharge their batteries. Thus, HOURCAR's 650+ members can reserve these plug-in hybrids and burn nothing but solar powered electricity for the first 30 - 40 miles.

Car sharing is a great idea, and solar powered plug-in hybrids make car sharing even better. For urbanites with access to quality public transportation, car sharing could reduce the need to own a car, or to at least drop down to one car.

Now that's out of the box thinking.