The Price of Mobility.(Column)

Byline: Rich Ceppos

One thirty-five. Remember that number, because it foretells what we will be driving in the future.

I'm in Germany for the Frankfurt Motor Show as I write this. Over the course of three long days, a slew of important new models are being unwrapped with much fanfare inside the giant Frankfurt Messe event complex. Nice stuff. But the real shocker this time isn't anything on a turntable, but what I'm seeing at German gas stations.

One thirty-five. That would be one Euro and 35 (European) cents, the current price of a liter of German unleaded according to this morning's Financial Times. Translated to greenbacks and gallons, the price of German gas is-hold on to your chair-$8.02 per gallon. German Super Plus, the top grade, can go for as much as [euro]1.60-or $9.50 per gallon. Diesel fuel-about 50 percent of European new cars are oil-burners these days-is less, but still an eye-popping $6.52. And you thought we had it rough at the pumps.

Gas prices have surged in Germany recently, much as they have stateside. But more important, they have historically been about triple what we pay in the States. We Americans are just beginning to think about the fuel cost of going to the cleaners or to grandma's house. For Europeans, it's been a way of life.

One thirty-five. So how have the Frankfurters and other members of the European Community coped? By embracing ever-more-efficient automobiles with ever-less compromise in room, comfort and performance.

Hence the new-generation diesels, with their bulging torque curves, mannerly ways, low emissions and virtual absence of soot and odor. We've gotten a glimpse of those powerplants in America under the hoods of the Mercedes E320 and VW Touareg, and they are impressive.