The 2013 Fiat 500e mini-car is the brand’sfirst all-electric model in the U.S. whilethe “500L” comes with four doors andsignificantly more room than a regular

model. The first 500 hit U.S. showroomstwo years ago. AP

Fiat 500 adds electricity

DETROIT — The Fiat 500 is gettingbigger and going electric.

Two new versions of the Italian-styled mini-car are appearing at theLos Angeles Auto Show this week: The“500e” is the brand’s first all-electricmodel in the U.S. while the “500L”comes with four doors and significant-ly more room than a regular model.

The first 500 hit U.S. showrooms twoyears ago, promising a stylish and fuel-efficient remake of the 1950s original.Since then, at least four variations ofthe remake have rolled out.

Carmaker wants toimprove sales numbersin the U.S. marketBy Tom KrisherAssociated Press

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ON-THE-MOVETALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012

2 » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » ONTHEMOVE

DETROIT — The ToyotaRAV4 is getting a make-over that could help it re-take the crossover crown.

TheRAV4was the firstcrossoverwhen itwent onsale in1995, and it becamea hit with families whowanted the roominess ofan SUV with the tighterhandling of a car. But asdozens of imitators en-tered the market offeringmore power, styling ortechnology for the price,the pioneering RAV4 wasgradually overtaken.

The current version isnow the fourth best-sell-ing crossover in the U.S.,behind the more recentlyredesigned Honda CR-V,Ford Escape and Chevro-let Equinox. The RAV4was last redesigned in2006.

Now, Toyota hopes itsrevamped 2013 RAV4 canreclaim the top sales spot.The crossover has asharper, more muscularlook than the boxier out-going model. It also has aredesigned interior andbetter fuel economy. Itde-butsWednesdayat theLosAngeles Auto Show andwill go on sale early nextyear.

Here are some moredetails about the fourth-generation RAV4.

UNDER THE HOOD:Toyota will carry over the2.5-liter, four-cylinder en-gine from the currentRAV4. It gets 176 horse-power, down from 179 inthe current model be-cause Toyota had to meetmore stringent emissionsstandards. It will bepaired with a new six-speed transmission,which replaces the four-speed on the currentmod-el. The new transmission

helps it achieve an esti-mated 24 miles per gallonin the city and 31 on thehighway, up from 22 and28. Toyota will no longeroffer a V6 engine.

INSIDE: The main dif-ference here is that Toyo-ta will no longer offer anoptional third-row seat,which had expanded theRAV4’s capacity to seven.But second-row passen-gers will have more legroom thanks to thinner

front seats. The cargoarea is also longer anddeeper than the previousmodel. When the secondrow is folded down, theRAV4 boasts 73.4 cubicfeet of cargo space,whichis more than the CR-V orEscape. A backup camerais now standard on everytrim level, as it is on theCR-V.

OUTSIDE:Thedesign ismore sculpted and dra-matic than the current

RAV4,with a slopinghoodandmoreprominent frontand rear fenders. Toyotais introducing a roof-hinged liftgate on the newRAV4, a break from itsprevious side-hinged reardoors. The company saysthe new liftgatewillmakethe vehicle easier to loadfrom a curb. The newRAV4will also be the firstToyota to have a systemthat automatically shiftsfrom front wheel drive to

all wheel drive when thevehicle is accelerating orwhen itdetectswheelslip-page.

PRICE: Not yet re-leased, but expect it to bein the $22,500 to $23,000range in this hotly con-tested and crowded seg-ment of the market.

CHEERS: It’s a longoverdue makeover for amajor player in the mar-ket and will most certain-ly increase sales. Toyota

has soldmore than1.7mil-lion RAV4s over the last17 years.

JEERS: The CR-V andEscape still offer morehorsepower and gee-whizfeatures, like the auto-matic liftgate on the Es-cape that opens with awave of a driver’s foot.The Chevrolet Equinoxgets better highway fueleconomy. The RAV4 willstill have a tough timecompeting.

RAV4 gets a new look, better gas

A service dog named Cookie walks around the Toyota RAV4 during it’s world debut at the LA Auto Show in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The crossoverhas a sharper, more muscular look than the boxier outgoing model. It also has a redesigned interior and better fuel economy. The design is moresculpted and dramatic than the current RAV4, with a sloping hood and more prominent front and rear fenders AP

Revamped modelis sleeker, hasmore leg room

By Dee-ann DurbinAssociated Press

ONTHEMOVE » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 » 3

LOS ANGELES — Chev-rolet is offering a way torecharge the new electricSpark in 20 minutes and apassenger who is alwaysthere: Apple’s Siri virtualassistant.

General Motors isshowing off the $25,000(before tax credits) five-door Spark EV at the LosAngeles Auto Show thisweek.

GM thinks that whenthe Spark EV goes on salenext summer it will havethe best range in the seg-ment and help the auto-maker build on the cachetgarnered with the Volt.The current leader, theelectric Ford Focus se-dan, can go 76 miles on acharge.

Initially the Spark willbe sold in only two states:California — where it iseligible for the high-occu-pancyvehicle lanes—andOregon. Beyond the U.S.,it will be available in Can-ada,EuropeandSouthKo-rea.

The Spark can becharged in about sevenhours with a 240-volt out-let. But the car has an op-tional fast-charging capa-bility to reach 80 percentof battery charge in 20minutes — a first for anelectric vehicle in NorthAmerica.

The lithium-ion batter-ies provide 130 horsepow-er and 400 pound-feet oftorque. The motor anddrive unit are built inWhite Marsh, Md. Thebattery has undergonemore than 200,000 hoursof testing and has aneight-year or100,000-milewarranty.

The Spark has two 7-inch display screens onwhich are programmedthe controls for audio,phone and temperature,aswell as keydata suchasthe expected drivingrange based on drivinghabits and conditions.

The Spark EV comeswith MyLink radio thatuses a smartphone to ac-cess apps, includingBringGo for navigationand TuneIn Internet ra-dio, Pandora and Stitcher.

For those with Apple’s4S and newer iPhone 5, itmeans Siri is along for theride.

The Spark, as well asthe Sonic LTZ and RS,have systems that inte-grate Siri when the caruses Bluetooth to pairwith an iPhone.

Siri also has an “eyes-free”mode thatallows thedriver to give her voicecommands to play music,find a location, and accesstexts and calendars whilekeeping the screen fromlighting up and distract-ing the driver.

Chevroletputs aSpark innew car

The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV is being shown this week at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. GANNETT

The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV packs smart performance andconnectivity technologies. GANNETT

The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV has exclusive ChevroletMyLink radio, which brings smartphone-basedinfotainment including Siri voice recognition. GANNETT

Vehicle brings Siri along for the ride

By Alisa PriddleDetroit Free Press

4 » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » ONTHEMOVE

The day could be fast-arriv-ing when a new breed of carbuyer considers a new genera-tion of cars, andwrestleswith achoice something like:“Hmmm, $30,000. Should I getthat loaded Ford Focus, or thisnew mini-size entry BMW?”

Luxury auto brands alreadyare making a living in the U.S.on their smaller models —BMW’s 3-series is the best ex-ample.

Now, they’re easing moreinto the compact- and even sub-compact-size market segmentsand have begun to show teaserversions of remarkably smallcars on the auto show circuit.

Buyers more and more willdecide whether they value apremium brand name enoughto sacrifice size and possiblyfeatures they could get for thesame price on a larger, well-equipped, non-luxury-name-plate car.

“It’s a weird area. Absolute-ly it puts a ceiling on whatmainstream brands cancharge,” said industry expertJim Hall at 2953 Analytics.

What are the cars like?

The Los Angeles Auto Show,which begins with press pre-views on Wednesday, will hostdebuts of several high-end andmainstream small cars, illus-trating the industry’s battle fordominance in the fuel-efficientsegment.

Ford thinks that design andexecution, rather than the sta-tus of a high-end badge on thehood, can carry the day.

The automaker said its rede-signed, 2013 Fusion midsize se-dan, for example, has been lur-ing a notable number of trade-ins fromAcura, BMWandAudiowners. Half of Fusion’s earlysales are to non-Ford owners,and most of those are formerluxury brand customers, theautomaker said.

Referring to the top versionof the Fusion, the Titaniummodel, Frank Davis, executivedirector of Ford’s North Amer-ican product programs, said,“Our Titanium buyer is the lux-

ury buyer— the Acura, the Au-di, the BMW buyer.”

The Fusion Titanium mid-size starts at about $31,000 andcan approach $40,000 onceloaded with options and fittedwith optional all-wheel drive. Asize down, Ford’s Focus com-pact has a Titaniummodel, too,for nearly $30,000 with all op-tions.

BMW’s 128 small coupestarts at about $32,000 by com-parison. And a new line ofsmaller BMWs is in the wings,based on a front-drive chassisshared with the brand’s Minimodels. Those might be desig-nated 1-series models, makingthe current 1, in effect, a 2-se-ries.

Mercedes-Benz’ latest-gen-eration A-class subcompactsrolling out in Europe are U.S.-bound and likely to spawn a va-riety of spinoffs as even thebrand known for its big, stolidsedans shoulders into the mpg-

oriented small-car segment.Audi has a line of A1s, about

Mini Cooper size, that it hassaid will include a U.S. versionin the future.

“The luxury market has be-come a blur,” saidArtWheaton,auto expert and industry edu-cation specialist at Cornell Uni-versity.

Will size actuallymatter?

In the end, whether thesmall, high-mileage, highbrow,low-luxe cars have a future inthe U.S., and whether theythreaten some mainstreambrands’ plans to get rich onhigh-endmodels, might dependon history more than anything.

Americans’ historical pref-erence has been and continuesto be for bigger cars, for theirgreater comfort and ability toswallow the country’s vastnessin relative ease.

Luxury models may be better deal

BMW1Series Coupe that is sold in the U.S. The carmaker is among those looking at smaller versions to attract compact buyers. BMW

By James R. HealeyUSA Today

FACTORING INTO THE LOW-LUXURY ANDHIGH-MAINSTREAMMODELS» Regional preferences. “In areas such as L.A. and New York and big

metropolitan areas, which are image-driven, the entry-luxury models dopretty well,” said Jesse Toprak, industry analyst at TrueCar.com. Though it’sless so in Middle America, the coastal ethic “puts a premium on the brand.People want to be seen in a BMW, in a Benz. Even though from a valueperspective, you’re better off getting a non-luxury vehicle.”That presages success for the new low-luxe entries because of the status

badges they wear.Toprak said he believes automakers are expecting regional strength rath-

er than nationwide success and have factored that into their business plans.» Luxury backlash. “There are buyers who don’t want premium cars

because they come with premiummaintenance, and a premium image thatsome people don’t want,” said Rebecca Lindland, director of research atconsultant IHS Automotive.Research by General Motors’ Buick unit—which considers itself a luxurybrand— found a deep pool of potential buyers who “were unpretentious.They were successful, could afford to buy any car they want, within reason.But they didn’t want to make an overt statement,” said Craig Bierley, Buick’smarketing chief.» Premium purgatory. Lower-end models from luxury brands risk beingconsidered not-quite-real-luxury; more like “premium.” And that, at leastaccording to Bierley, is “where brands go to die.”He sees no contradiction between small size and big image. “Luxury doesn’thave to be big. Luxury is really a personal thing, how a customer defines it,”Bierley said.

ONTHEMOVE » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 » 5

SCRANTON, Pa. — If thetrash truck or bus rollingdown your street seems alittle quieter these days,you’re not imaginingthings. It’s probably run-ning on natural gas.

Surging gas produc-tion has led the drilling in-dustry to seek out newmarkets for its product,andenergycompanies, in-creasingly, are settingtheir sights on the trans-portation sector.

Touting natural gas asa cheaper, cleaner-burn-ing alternative to gasolineand diesel, drillers, publicutilities and governmentofficials are trying toboost demand for naturalgas buses, taxis, shuttles,delivery trucks andheavy-duty work vehiclesof all sorts, while simulta-neously encouraging de-velopment of the fuelinginfrastructure thatwill beneeded to keep them run-ning.

The economics arecompelling. Natural gascosts about $1.50 to $2 pergallon equivalent lessthan gasoline and diesel.That can add up to tens ofthousands of dollars insavings for vehicles thatguzzle the most fuel.

Fleet managers aretaking notice. Companiesas diverse as AT&T,Waste Management andUPS are converting all orparts of their fleets to nat-ural gas, as are transitagencies, municipalitiesand state governments.

“Now that youcan savea dollar or two dollars agallon, there’s huge inter-est in the market, espe-cially in those fleets thatuse a lot of fuel,” saidRichard Kolodziej, presi-dent of the trade groupNatural Gas Vehicles forAmerica.

Waste Management,the nation’s largest trashhauler, has committed toreplacing 80percent of itsfleet with trucks powered

by natural gas. Rich Mo-gan, the company’s dis-trict manager in south-western Pennsylvania,said about half of his fleetof 100 trucks now run onthecheaper fuel.Theyarequieter and less expen-sive to maintain, he said,and“weare lookingata50percent reduction in our(fuel) cost.”

Driller EQT Corp.opened its own naturalgas filling station outsidePittsburgh in summer2011, using it to refuel itstrucks while also makingit available to the public.It’s now doing about 1,000fill-ups a month — andonly half involve EQT ve-hicles. Other users in-clude City of Pittsburghtrash trucks, shuttles runby theUniversity of Pitts-burgh Medical Center, ataxi service and a handfulof consumers.

EQT wasn’t sure howthe station would be re-ceived.

“We didn’t have com-mitments at all beyondour own vehicles. It wasreally a guess of what wethink we could do,” saidDavid Ross, an EQT vicepresident focusedonmar-ket development. “Wehadpeople who, at the begin-ning, said, ‘No, we’re notinterested.’ Today theyactually own a vehiclethat’s natural gas. I thinkhaving the physical assetsitting there has helped itbecome real for people.”

Natural gas vehiclesaren’t new. But the drill-ing boom — spurred bynew technology that un-locked vast reserves ofnatural gas in deep rockformations like the Mar-cellus Shale underneathparts of New York, Penn-sylvania, West Virginiaand Ohio — created a gasglut that depressedprices. That, in turn, hasmadenatural gasmore at-tractive as a transporta-tion fuel.

Partly because of alack of fueling infrastruc-ture, gas isn’t expected tograb significant marketshare from petroleumanytime soon. Only atenth of 1 percent of thenatural gas consumed intheUnites States last yearwas used as vehicle fuel,according to the U.S. De-partment of Energy. Ofmore than 250 million ve-hicles on the road today,perhaps 125,000 are pow-ered by natural gas.

But energy companiessee potential.

Chesapeake EnergyCorp., the nation’s No. 2producer, has been espe-cially aggressive abouttargeting transportation.TheOklahomaCity-baseddriller invested $150 mil-lion in Clean Energy, acompanybackedbyTexasinvestor T. Boone Pickensthat’s building a nation-wide network of liquefiednatural gas refueling sta-tions for long-haul truck-

ers. Chesapeake alsoteamed up with GeneralElectric on “CNG In ABox,” a compressed natu-ral gas fueling system forretailers; announced apartnership with GE andWhirlpool to develop a$500 appliance that wouldallow consumers to refueltheirnatural gas-poweredcars at home; and hasbeen working with 3M todesign less expensivetanks.

“It’s simply amatter oftime before the U.S.meaningfully shifts fromtransportation systemsbuilt around consuminghigh-priced oil to consum-ing low-priced domesticnatural gas,” ChesapeakeCEO Aubrey McClendonwrote to investors thisyear.

States are also promot-ing natural gas as a trans-portation fuel. Nearly twodozen state governmentshave formed a consor-tium to add natural gas-

powered vehicles to theirfleets, an effort launchedby the governors of Okla-homa and Colorado thatattracted more than 100bids fromdealerships lastmonth.

Separately, the Penn-sylvania Department ofEnvironmental Protec-tion is dangling $20 mil-lionworth of incentives togoose the market for me-dium-andheavy-dutynat-ural gas vehicles. Thethree-year program,which launchesDec.1andis funded by a state fee ondrillers, aims at putting600 to 700 new naturalgas-powered trucks andbuses on the road in itsfirst year.

State officials alsohope to use the grant pro-gram to spur a network ofnew filling stations. Penn-sylvania has only 14 pub-licly available stations,and more places to fill upcould help stoke consum-er demand.

“The big prize here isto get consumers pur-chasing vehicles that runoff natural gas,” saidGeoff Bristow of thePennsylvania DEP.

Conventional gasolineengines are becomingmore efficient, and con-sumers might balk atspending more on a natu-ral gas-powered car.

The only factory-made, natural gas-pow-ered passenger car avail-able to U.S. consumers isthe Honda Civic NaturalGas.WhileHondaexpectssales to top2,000 thisyear,that’s a fraction of thenumber of gasoline-pow-ered Civics it moves in asingle month.

Analyst Mike Omotosoof research firm LMCAutomotive sees naturalgas as a niche transporta-tion fuel.

“There is very little in-terest in natural gas forcars,”Omotososaid. “Peo-ple looking for alterna-tives are looking at hy-brids and electric vehi-cles.”

Natural gas drillers target U.S. truck market

Waste Management driver Alan Sadler fills his truck with CNG gas at the company's filling station in Washington, Pa.Years from now, motorists needing a fill-up might see natural gas pumps sharing space at the neighborhood fillingstation with ones dispensing gasoline and diesel. AP/GENE J. PUSKA

ByMichael RubinkamAssociated Press

6 » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » ONTHEMOVE

ments a priority abovepaying their mortgage orother financial obliga-tions.

Given the rise in autoloans going to higher-riskborrowers and the uptick

LOS ANGELES — MoreAmericans fell behind ontheir auto-loan paymentsin the third quarter, whenback-to-school shoppingand other needs tradition-ally put a strain on con-sumers’ wallets.

But the uptick is likelyonly a seasonal blip in anotherwise multiyear de-cline in auto-loan delin-

quencies, according to re-porting agency TransU-nion.

The rate of U.S. auto-loan payments at least 60days overdue rose to 0.38percent from0.33percentin the second quarter, thecompany said.

That represents only aslight rise from the sec-ond quarter, whichmarked the lowest delin-quency rate on TransU-nion’s records going back

to 1999.The July-to-September

delinquency rate also wasdown 19 percent from the0.47 percent rate a yearearlier, the firm said.

All told, the auto-loandelinquency rate has fall-en on an annual basis for12 consecutive quarters.

“Basedon thedata, thislooks like it’s attributed toreally just the seasonalfactors,” said Peter Tu-rek, a vice president of

TransUnion’s financialservices business unit.

Since the housing col-lapse in 2007 and reces-sion that followed, manyborrowers have madekeeping up with car pay-

in average balances, it’splausible that the auto-loan delinquency ratecould inchup in the fourthquarter, Turek noted.

“However, as the econ-omy continues to improveand new and used auto de-mand maintains its cur-rent pace, we believe thatthe auto-loan delinquencyratewill either remain thesame or even drop a fewbasis points by the end ofthe year,” he said.

More fall behind on auto-loan paymentsMORE NEW LOANSWITH AVERAGE AT$17,829In all, new auto loans and leases grew by 16 percent in the

second quarter from a year earlier, TransUnion said.The average balance of new auto loans also increased on an

annual basis in the second quarter, rising 2.4 percent to$17,829.

By Alex VeigaAssociated Press

Ford’s makeover of its Fu-sionmidsizesedan isagorgeousdelight—undercutbysomedri-vetrain issues in the gasolinemodels.

Thehybridversion, dueverylate this year, is, in contrast, agenteel champ that deliversstrong mileage and pleasingperformance.

Fusionanditscorporaterela-tives, such as the mechanicallysimilar Mondeo sold overseasand coming Lincoln MKZ se-dan, are huge within Ford Mo-tor. The platform eventuallywill spawn 10 vehicles thatshould account for 1.3 millionglobal sales a year, Ford says.

The new Fusion was bench-marked upmarket against Audiand BMWmodels during devel-opment to help make sure thecar is good enough to carry thatload.

Here’s the result.» Exceptional styling. Not

purely innovative, drawingfrom Audi as well as from theAston Martin brand that Fordused to own. But if uniquenesswere requirement for art,there’d never have been a sec-ond rock ‘n’ roll song.

More important is thecombi-nation of elements and their im-pact.ToTestDrive’s eye,Fusionis the best-looking currentmainstream midsize sedan —and nicer on the eyes than somesupposedly artsy sports cars.

» Generous rear-seat room.Fusion has a longer wheelbasethan rivals, meaning more legspace in back. Long-legged folkwon’t grumble—unless you trythree across, because of toomuch center humpand too littlewidth.

» Front-seat comfort. You’llprobably like the driver’s seat alot, and your main passengerwill feel likewiseabout the shot-gun position.

» Quietness.With the excep-tionofenginenoisenotedbelow,it’s peaceful in a Fusion.

» Reasonable fuel economy.None of the test Fusions hit thefederal ratings, but none felldisappointingly short in real-world driving.

In the end, the grand gripe(and about the only serious one)is about the drivetrain.

Ford’s EcoBoost four-cylin-der engines are too noisy, and

the 1.6-liter is especially bad.Unfortunately, it’s the non-hy-brid one that gets the best mile-age and is likely to be the onemost buyers get.

EcoBoost engines have acoarse grumble typical of en-gines using direct injection, afuel-injection system thatboosts power and mileage, butis inherently noisier.

All makers struggle with thenoise, butmanyminimize it bet-

ter thanFusion. Thedirect rivalHonda Accord is an example.

Accentuating the negative,the Fusion 1.6-liter’s transmis-sion downshifts too often, rev-ving the engine needlessly andamplifying the racket.

The 2-liter EcoBoost is moretolerable, and isn’t worsened bythe transmission because it hasmore power and doesn’t needthe help of a rev-boostingdown-shift as often.

Frank Davis, executive di-rector of Ford’s North Ameri-can products, provided Fordtest data showing there shouldbe no engine sound problem.The Fusion is as quiet as manyhigher-price premium sedans,the data show.

For that matter, Ford’s dataalso show that the 1.6 engine’stransmission doesn’t downshiftunduly often.

But the hybrid, coming soon,has far better manners.

If you slam the gas pedal, thegas engine that’s part of the hy-brid powertrain roars, but itseemslessbothersome.Drivingmore gently, the electric mo-tor’s power keeps the gas en-gine from having to work ashard.Amode switch lets the caroperate as a pure electric tem-porarily.Evenwithoutusing theelectric mode, the trip comput-er showed Test Drive was run-ning on just battery power fornearly half the distance of shortsuburban jaunts.

Fusion sedan is a sporty beauty

The 2013 Ford Fusion features exceptional styling, more rear-seat room and reasonable fuel economy. AP

Associated Press

ONTHEMOVE » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 » 7

The 500 needs to boostits allure in the U.S.,where sales remain pint-sized compared with therest of theworld. Fiat hasproduced more than 1million 500s worldwidesince the car’s globallaunch in2007,butaccep-tancehasbeenslowintheU.S., where just over36,000 sold throughOcto-ber.

Here are some high-lights of the car:

» Under the hood:The 500e has a lithium-

ion battery that powers a111 horsepower electricmotor.Thebatterycanberecharged in less thanfourhourswitha240-voltcharging station. The carwill be able to go 80milesbefore its battery has tobe recharged, with driv-ing range in the city ex-ceeding 100 miles, ac-cording to Fiat, whichalso runsChryslerGroupLLC. Electric cars andhybrids, in general, havebetter range in the citybecause their brakesgenerate power to re-charge the battery. The500L will have a 160-horsepower 1.4-liter tur-bocharged four-cylinder

engine.» Outside: Engineers

madethe500emoreaero-dynamic than thecurrent500, improving its winddrag statistics by 13 per-cent.Theelectricversiongets sculpted new frontand rear fascias thatwere designed by using awind tunnel. It also has ahatch-mounted spoiler.

» Inside: The 500egets a 7-inch dashboardscreen with graphics toshow battery charge lev-els and other functions.The five-passenger 500Lgets somuchmore interi-or space that it’s consid-ered a large car, the com-pany says. The interior is

42 percent bigger than aregular 500, which seatsfour, Chrysler says.

» Fuel economy: The500e will get the equiva-lent of 116 miles per gal-lon of gasoline in the cityand 100 miles per gallonon the highway, Chryslersays. The 500L gas mile-age hasn’t been an-nounced.

» Price: Not an-nounced yet for eithermodel. The 500e will besold only in California atfirst, starting in the sec-ond quarter of 2013.Chryslerwon’tsaywhereit will go next. The 500Lwill come out in the mid-dle of next year.

The 2013 Fiat 500e mini-car is the brand’s first all-electric model in the U.S. AP

Continued » 1D

Fiat

Nearly seven in 10young drivers are stilltexting behind the wheel,and a growing number ofthem are accessing theInternet on their cell-phones while driving, ac-cording to a new annualsurvey by insurer StateFarm.

Despite years-long na-tional campaigns againsttexting while driving,which is now illegal in 39states and the District ofColumbia, 68 percent ofyoung drivers— those18-29 — reported engagingin the practice, up from64 percent last year. Thatcompareswith 34 percentof all drivers who report-ed texting while driving,up from 32 percent a yearago.

There were evensharper increases in theequally risky behavior ofsurfing the Internetwhiledriving: 48percent ofyoung drivers reportedaccessing theWeb behindthewheel, up from43per-cent last year. Those fig-ures exclude program-ming a GPS device.

“It could be” that thenation’s anti-texting cam-paigns should includewarnings about surfingwhile driving, says ChrisMullen, State Farm’s di-rector of technology re-search.

“The evolution of thetechnology — and thespeed at which it’s chang-ing — requires us to con-tinually change our mes-saging to make sure it’srelevant,” she says.

Since 2009, State Farmhas conducted an annualonline survey of about1,000 licensed drivers 18and older to study driv-

ers’ attitudes and behav-iors regarding distracteddriving.

The Department ofTransportation says that3,092 people were killedand an additional 416,000were injured in distract-ed-related crashes in2010; 18 percent of all in-jury crashes that year in-volved a distracted driv-er.

Whatever the safetymessages, many driversapparently believe theycan safely text and surfwhile driving.

Patrick Mayer, 35, atechnology consultant inMarietta, Ga., who logsabout 20,000 miles a year,says he regularly surfsthe Internet and textswhile his vehicle is mov-ing.

“I do it (surf) if I haveto look up something,” hesays. “I usually do it at thestoplight or on the high-way, usually not on sur-face streets. I’ve done iteverywhere, dirt roads,wherever I need to lookup information.”

Mayer, who says he’shad few citations andthree minor crashes,none related to distracteddriving in 20 years ofdriving, says he knowsthat texting and surfingare risky. “But so is put-ting on your makeup, eat-ing or talking on thephone,” he says. “Themost distracted drivers Isee are usually peopletalking on the phone andnotpayingattentionwhenthey’re changing lanes.They’ve got the phone upto their head, looking for-ward, talking. I usuallydon’t even talk onmycell-phone. I hate talking onthe phone.”

Young driversstill fiddlingwith phonesLarry CopelandUSA TODAY

8 » MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2012 » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT » ONTHEMOVE

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