Fleet of fuel-efficient hybrids cruises into WW-P high school

Environmental science class at High School North gets some real-world lessons

By: Emily Craighead
   Eight fuel-efficient hybrid cars, a group of car salesmen and an environmental science class transformed West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North’s parking lot into a showcase for environmentally friendly cars Wednesday.
   "My environmental science class was doing alternative fuel research, and as a culminating activity, we said, ‘Why not see these vehicles?’" High School North teacher Terri Robinovitz said.
   Students and teachers flocked around the cars, taking turns sitting in the driver’s seat, playing with the radio and checking out the trunk. Students quizzed the dealers on how the vehicles work, marketing strategies and other fuel-efficient alternatives to gas-powered vehicles.
   A few teachers even took the cars for a spin around the parking lot.
   The car show makes an effective teaching tool because it’s fun for students, environmental science teacher Kristina Susca said.
   "They can sit in the cars, play around, get an idea of the cars," she explained. "Then they can go home and say to their parents, ‘I’m really interested in that car.’"
   Nikita Joshi, a High School North senior, drives a Volkswagen Beetle and doesn’t worry much about gas prices because her parents foot the bill. Senior Ashley Klepach, on the other hand, drives a gas-guzzling Jeep Grand Cherokee.
   "I would probably buy a hybrid," she said, adding that spending a bit more on a car initially would probably still be cost-effective, in light of rising gas prices.
   The market for hybrid cars is still limited to people who want to make a statement about the environment and are willing to pay extra for an environmentally friendly car, according to Bill Barton of Dayton Toyota.
   "Eventually, it’s going to happen where you buy it for economical sense," he said. In the meantime, this auto show "gives students a view of what the future looks like."
   Brett Charleston, a teacher at High School North, drives a 1996 Honda Accord and is in the market for a new car. He took a Ford Escape from Ford City of Bordentown for a test-drive through the parking lot.
   "My wife is an environmentalist," he said. "If I get a truck, she says it has to be a hybrid."
   The other vehicles at Wednesday’s event included a Honda Civic Hybrid from Honda of Princeton, a hybrid sports utility vehicle from Lexus of Lawrenceville, a Chevrolet Silverado from the Dayton Auto Center and a Green Line Vue and Sky from Saturn of New Brunswick.
   "What they had in common were advantages to the environment, fuel-consumption, and hopefully bridging the future to a fuel-cell mobility," Ms. Robinovitz said.
   While students and teachers alike oohed and aahed over all the cars at Wednesday’s show, the popularity of the black Saturn Sky roadster convertible proved that for many drivers, the most important question about a car remains, "How do I look in it?"