Today with gas prices being so high, I wanted to take some time to cover the idea of getting 100 miles per gallon, and explain how this is no longer a pipe dream and some of the options that are available to those who are serious about saving some serious cash when filling up at the pump.

For some people, getting 100mpg is as simple as getting a Moped. Sure, there’s nothing really magical about a 50cc gasoline engine, but the very lightweight Moped can be great if you live in a city with heavy traffic and a lot of bike lanes (usually a Moped can drive in lanes for bicycles). I have a friend who lives in Boston, and he tells me that his little scooter is the best way to get around town since it can drive on the road like a regular vehicle, and then take bike lanes to get through traffic backups quickly.

A moped may not be right for everyone, afterall, it tops out at about 30 miles per hour and doesn’t haul cargo or more than one person around very well.

Fortunately, there are now cars out there that can get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon that can drive on the Interstate, and haul passengers and cargo around.

While they aren’t rolling of production lines, a person with a little know-how and some ingenuity can achieve the mythical 100mpg by starting with a car you can get from your dealer right now - a Toyota Prius.

For those who like to tinker, and if you live in an area with a lot of sunlight - sorry Seattle - you might consider installing a solar panels on your rooftop so that while your car is parked while you’re out and about, the electric battery is being recharged. While this isn’t the most efficient way to use solar panels (the roof of your house is a much better place for them), on some trips you may be able to hit 100mpg.

Then there’s what many would consider the more sensible conversion - taking your current Prius Hybrid and converting it into a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The conversion will run you in the neighborhood of $5,000-$6,000 if you like to do things yourself or you can have a conversion company do it for you for about $10,000-$12,000.

Converting your Prius to a PHEV can help you hit the equivalent of 100mpg when taking your daily commute since you’re going to be relying on the electric motor to do most or all the work. When you get home for the night, you just plug it in and it’s ready to again in the morning. And if you’re taking short trips, the gasoline engine may not need to fire at all, which means you’ve used no gasoline for that trip - not to mention it’s really cool to see a car driving 30mpg down a road and hear no noise from the engine.

And if you’re feeling flush with cash, you live in California, Chicago, New York, or Florida, and you want to say goodbye to gasoline completely, you can get yourself a Tesla Roadster for about 100 grand. This vehicle is 100% electric, requires no gasoline, can do 0-60mpg in 4 seconds (about what a Porsche 911 Turbo can do), and has a range of over 200 miles on a charge. This vehicle gets the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon and costs only 2 cents/mile to drive (even the most fuel efficient non hybrid cars cost at least 8 cents/mile to drive). Not to mention, this car is just darn nice to look at.

So if high gas prices have got you in a severe budget crunch, there are a lot of alternatives out there for you. And remember, walking and riding a bicycle don’t require any gasoline at all.

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