pet connection

When it comes to shopping for a potential DogCar, there are a couple of things that get our tail wagging.

First, of course, any potential canine carrier has to have room for our four-legged friends and all that travels with them. That means an ample cargo area along with easy access for our pups to climb in and out of the vehicle.

We also tend to look for good overall ventilation, power window locks and the option to go off-roading, as many dog-loving families like to do.

And now in the past year or so, there’s a new item to add to our DogCar wish list: good fuel economy. That’s because the climbing price of gas has forced many of us to curtail our use of large SUVs, which traditionally have been very capable for canines, and driven us to seek out DogCars that offer higher mileage than those gas-guzzling giants.

So you can understand why we were downright giddy when we read today’s news reports about two vehicles that offer potential versatility and cost-savings to the DogCar crowd. They are both hatchbacks, which means the rear tailgate opens skyward and the seats fold down to provide plenty of room for our pups.

First, there’s the Volkswagen BlueMotion Golf, a small hatchback that will be introduced to Britain early next yar. The ultra-efficient diesel is expected to get an average of 62 miles per gallon overall, which easily beats the 45 mpg achieved by the Toyota Prius hybrid. The BlueMotion Golf, which is not a hybrid, also emits less carbon dioxide than a Prius, according to news reports.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the new BlueMotion Golf will make it to the U.S. anytime soon.

Then we hear the news that the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid, to be introduced at the Paris Auto Show in October, also has a hatchback version. This is a totally new version of the previous Insight, which was introduced in 1999 as the first gas-electric vehicle sold in the United States. That version achieved up to 70 mpg, so we can expect this new, sleeker version to do the same or better.

Honda expects the low-priced Insight to go on sale in the U.S. in the spring.

High mileage, low price and a dog-friendly hatchback make for a potentially bright future for DogCar lovers everywhere.

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