In the midst of a market that involves a lot of serious business Scion has done pretty good job of branding themselves as being “fun” and “hip”, and they’ve done the same at this years LA Auto Show. On their website visitors can have their car custom built to a point, but I don’t know if this claw crane game is really an optional package or not.

This game was built into the back of what looked like Scion xD and came complete with the joystick built onto the outside and television monitors mounted into the top spoiler which could be raised so the surrounding crowds can get a clear view of both the face of whoever is running the crane and the claw itself. We have to admit that it was pretty close to the real thing too, because grabbing one of those small stuffed Scions was next to impossible.

At a press conference this morning here at the LA Auto Show the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid was named as the Green Car Journal’s 2008 Green Car of the Year. The 2008 Tahoe is the first vehicle from General Motors that uses the new (and expensive) two-mode transmission hybrid system.

The Tahoe receiving this award may come as a surprise to many since most would not picture a full-size SUV when someone talks about hybrid vehicles or fuel-savings. But in reality, many people still buy large sport utility vehicles in order to pull boats and campers, haul around a large family or take trips and a vehicle like this gives them the opportunity to make a smaller environmental impact with their SUV.

Last night we heard rumors that there were going to be more than the announced 100 Chevy Equinox Fuel Cells available for drivers as part of Project Driveway. We didn’t get an exact number but were told there would be more than 110 vehicles for sure, and yesterday Bob Lutz announced that Disney would be getting 10 of those vehicles in a partnership with Chevy to test out the new fuel cell vehicles.

Disney will be getting 10 of the zero-emission hydrogen-powered vehicles and will use them internally to shuttle employees and talent around the Disneyland campus in California. Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like the will be transporting visitors so visiting Disneyland won’t get you a ride in one.

Yesterday at the LA Auto Show Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman, announced November of 2010 as the target date for the production release of the Chevy Volt Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV). This is the most specific time frame heard from GM yet on the concept vehicle originally announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January, and Lutz himself admits that the time frame is aggressive.

To us this seems very aggressive since just the day before we actually drove a Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell which is already going in the hands of real drivers in Project Driveway starting in January, and according to Fuel Cell Commercialization Manager Britta Gross the Equinox Fuel Cell won’t be ready for production before 2010, either. This announcement will however keep Toyota on their toes, as they are also trying to get a battery-powered vehicle off the ground in the near future.

Want to get a chance to drive the hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell for free, all expenses paid for three months? Well, if you’re really passionate about alternative automotive fuel sources, creating less of an environmental impact with your car and you live or work in metropolitan New York City, Washington, D.C. or southern California you could be chosen for Project Driveway. This project is the first of its kind to put real drivers in real-world situations in a large-scale market test of fuel cell electric vehicles.

Within minutes of arriving at our hotel in LA we were whisked over to the convection center where we were able to get a hands-on look at the Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell and even got to drive it on actual LA streets, not some weak obstacle course in a parking lot. Driving the car felt an awful lot like driving any other car, and I think that was GM’s goal. It didn’t smell funny, there was no crazy steering wheel or driver controls and it didn’t fly. However it did make a unique air-blowing noise from the back when it first started, but no sounds reminiscent of the Jetsons.

Later this week SlipperyBrick will be blogging live from the 2007 LA Auto Show Press Days bringing you up to the minute coverage and photos of the latest model debuts, hybrids, some cool concepts, electric vehicle technology and more. At this year’s show we’ve been invited as a guest of GM’s and are expecting to see as many as 10 models making their world-wide debut and in total over 20 new models making their first appearance North America. Some of the more notable debuts include the 2009 Pontiac Vibe, 2008 Mustang Bullitt, and the Honda FCX to name a few. The coverage starts Wednesday morning and continues through Thursday.

We will also have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with a couple folks from GM, namely Bob Boniface, Director of Design for EFlex and Denise Gray, Director of Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (batteries). Feel free to drop us a comment with any questions you have for these two and I’ll do my best to fit them in as both of these individuals are key players in bringing on the electric car revolution.