Last August, AutoblogGreen feature writer Ray Holan wrote about his adventure in converting a BMW 3 series from the mid-'80s to run on VegOil. In his introduction, he posted four lessons he learned about the process, and lesson #4 (choose your mechanic carefully) is something that Blogging New Orleans writer Matt Robinson is probably reflecting on right now.

Robinson has written a short tale about trying to turn Gracie, his 1980 VW pick-up, into a WVO-machine. Unfortunately for him, the mechanic - who was also converting Robinson's friend's Mercedes - decided to attend an anarchist convention before finishing the job, and a lot of the work he had done (but not all, thankfully) was shoddy and required serious reworking. The Mercedes never ran again. And all this on top of the Saint's loss yesterday and all the rest New Orleans has been through. Sheeesh.

[Source: Blogging New Orleans]

AutoblogGreen readers are no strangers to Myers Motors and their tiny electric car, the NmG (No more Gas), which Ray Holan profiled in depth last summer. And it's an AutoblogGreen reader tipped us off to the so far low-profile announcement from Myers of their newest EV, the Qui Moto, coming next summer.

Myers is not releasing a lot of information on the Qui Moto just yet. They say it has a 60 mile range, and can go 30 more miles on a mid-day 50 percent Depth of Discharge 110-volt charge. The Qui Moto can go 1,000 miles on $25 worth of energy and seats two side by side, Myers says. Price and other details are unfortunately unavailable. The NmG sells for $24,900.

The sleek yellow Qui Moto (with a drag coefficient of 0.019) is more strikingly beautiful than the NmG, and certainly looks more futuristic than most other cars available today or soon. Perhaps this creative style comes from the subtle message on their logo for Romans 12:2, which demands people be independent and freethinking to discover the will of God. I wonder if that makes the Qui Moto a Godmobile?

[Source: Myers Motors, hat tip to ABG reader Michael]

I've observed with mild amusement the recent spate of stories in the mainstream media about fuel saving. Maybe you have too.

You know the kind of articles. "Ten Ways to Survive High Gas Prices". "8 Things You Must Do to Save at the Pump". Even the venerable old Federal Trade Commission has a published list. Gasoline price spikes bring these out like a spring rain conjures up the worms. Once the price surge recedes (or the public gets used to the new price level) the media attention to fuel-saving goes underground again - just like the earthworms.

Yes, our collective memory is short. The wheels seem to turn something like this in the American brain. "Geez, $2.98 a gallon! Next time I buy a new vehicle I'd better downsize to something with better fuel mileage. I'm gonna go broke filling up this barge." Two weeks later, gas drops to $2.80 a gallon. "Wow, only $2.80 a gallon, now that's more like it". Collectively, we blithely ignore both past history (remember $1.25 a gallon gas?) and future trends (how high can it go?). But don't take my word for it. Check out the Oct. 19 AutoblogGreen post The Forgetfulness is Real.

Talk about forgetting. These fuel-saving tip lists are largely forgettable and that's regrettable. Most of them haven't changed much since the '50s. That's all the way back to President Eisenhower, father of the interstate highway system, for you history buffs. Same old hoary axioms: slow down, check tire pressure. You know the dreary drill. That's the problem. Dullsville. Let's face it. Quoting your fuel economy numbers is not a slam dunk pickup line at Club Med. Ripping off low ETs at the local dragstrip has a whole lot more "red-blooded-American-boy" appeal.

OK, so we forget about fuel economy and pursuing it doesn't get our juices flowing. The question I'm left with is this: Can efficiency get hip, slick and cool?

In yesterday's exciting chapter, we left our hero (yours truly) impaled on the horns of a dilemma. Well, impaled is perhaps too strong a word. Let's just say I was perplexed. What is the "best" alternative fuel out of a short list of 5 choices? The final contestants were E85, CNG, Biodiesel, Electricity and Straight Vegetable Oil. I gave the first two their shot in Part 1, so it's on to the rest of the line-up after the jump.

"Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest fuel of them all"? The magic mirror in the fairy tale had it easy. Snow White was a shoe-in. In the 2006 Alternative Fuel Beauty Pageant, we have a tougher time picking a winner. Lots of conflicting information. Which one is the "fairest fuel" to put in the tank (or battery bank or fuel cell)? I'm here to pick an alternative fuel that's fair to my pocketbook, fair to the planet, and fair to my thirst for performance and convenience.

I narrowed the fuel contenders down to 5 finalists: E85, CNG, Biodiesel, Electricity and Straight Vegetable Oil. I left out hydrogen because it's readily available in fairy tales, but not on Main Street USA. Having owned at least one vehicle running on each of the fuel contestants below - the notable exception being an E85 vehicle - I feel reasonably qualified as a graduate of the school of hard knocks (or is it NOx?) to subject you to my subjective perspective. So which fuel makes a podium finish? Read on after the jump.