WAVERLY - Chris Schneider can take a trip to Chicago or Minneapolis with his Honda CNG that runs on compressed natural gas. However, when the La Crosse, Wis., car dealer and hybrid vehicle advocate wants to visit family in Eldora, he needs to take another car.

Iowa offers nowhere to refuel with compressed natural gas.

Schneider, known as the "hybrid guru," was at Wartburg on Wednesday with a compressed natural gas-powered vehicle and an electric truck.

"We've got to get out of the box that our vehicles need to do 100 percent of what we want them to do 100 percent of the time," he said.

Most American driving is done solo on short, daily commutes to work, Schneider said. More than half a dozen tested technologies offer ways they can drive without burning gasoline for 20 to 30 miles.

As owner of Motorwerks, a Honda dealership in LaCrosse, he has seen how attitude can affect innovation when Honda stopped producing the Insight, the first gas-electric hybrid mass-produced in the U.S.

Since then, the Toyota Prius has become a popular seller.

Hybrids may help change Americans' attitudes about emerging technologies.

"They can show Americans technology isn't anything to be afraid of," Schneider said. "They show electric motors do provide all the torque and power they need."

Contact John Molseed at 291-1418

or john.molseed@wcfcourier.com.