LOS ANGELES — Ann Deren-Lewis thought it would be hard to give up her Jeep Cherokee - she saw SUVs everywhere she went. Then a new job 65 kilometres away got her thinking about guzzling gas.

Out went the Jeep and in came a Honda Civic running on compressed natural gas, an alternative fuel cheaper than gasoline. Her car isn't a hybrid, the increasingly popular vehicles fuelled by gas and electricity; environmentalists say it's even better.

"I'm driving a car that doesn't put any bad things into the environment, it's cheap to operate and maintain," Deren-Lewis said. "And it's comfortable."

But despite the enthusiasm of drivers like Deren-Lewis, automakers are retreating from vehicles which run on natural gas or electricity. Car makers say there's little buyer demand for so-called "alt-fuel" vehicles; environmentalists say car makers aren't trying hard enough to market them.

Meanwhile, hybrids such as the Toyota Prius are flourishing. At the 2005 North American Auto Show in Detroit, automakers touted hybrid SUVs and sedans. About 88,000 hybrids were sold in the United States last year, according to J.D. Power and Associates, which projects the number to more than double to about 220,000 this year.

Alternative-fuel vehicles never caught on like that - it took about seven years for their number to double, according to U.S. federal statistics. As of 2002, Americans drove an estimated 471,000 alternative-fuel vehicles (including those powered by electricity, natural gas, propane, ethanol and methanol) the U.S. Energy Department said - up from 247,000 in 1995.

It's still a fraction of the more than 15 million new vehicles sold annually in the United States.

In Canada, by around 2000, people were driving more than 170,000 alternative-fuel vechicles, according to various sources. Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems is developing and manufacturing zero-emission fuel cells for vehicles. And Westport Innovations Inc., also based in Vancouver, is developing technologies that allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen and hydrogen-enriched natural gas.

Environmentalists say any vehicle that uses less gasoline is a good start. But many wonder why automakers don't focus more on promoting alternative-fuel vehicles.

"Watch television or listen to the radio, you're bombarded with ads for gas-powered vehicles," said Andy Weisser, a spokesman for the American Lung Association of California who bought a natural gas vehicle out of concern about air quality. "I have never seen a natural gas vehicle ad."

Deren-Lewis, a marketing executive at beauty products maker Neutrogena, only learned about natural gas cars after the company offered incentives for alternative-fuel drivers.

Internet research and word of mouth led her to a seller. "You don't just pull into a Honda lot and say, 'Can you get me one of these?"' she said.

Alternative-fuel cars do come with inconveniences: Natural gas vehicles can only be fuelled at special stations and electric cars take up to eight hours to recharge. Rarely can either go more than 400 kilometres without refuelling.

For Deren-Lewis, it's not a big deal. She fills up every third day at isolated fuelling stations happily located near her home in suburban Bradbury and work at Los Angeles International Airport. And she pays less than $10 US each time.

Automakers see that kind of convenience as an exception. They favour hybrids because buyers can fill up at regular gas stations, said Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Automakers say vehicles such as the EV1, the first electric vehicle to go to market in 1996, never became popular enough to lower the cost of production.

"We invested more than $1 billion to make a commercially viable business out of our electric vehicle program," GM spokesman Dave Barthmuss said. The electric car didn't catch on "because it forced people to make too many trade-offs in their transportation lifestyles."

Fans of the EV1 say GM never gave it a fair chance. Even as the company promoted the EV1, it joined automakers in a lawsuit that dismantled a California program which promoted alt-fuel vehicles.

One former General Motors specialist responsible for promoting the EV1 said the company simply wasn't producing enough "alt-fuel" vehicles.

"I had significant demand from people who wanted the vehicles and I couldn't get vehicles to sell or lease," said Chelsea Sexton, the former GM employee, who now advises environmental groups and automakers on alt-fuel vehicles.

Ford Motor Co. was criticized by environmentalists in 2003 when it decided to discontinue the natural gas version of its Crown Victoria. The model was popular among taxi companies, cities and other fleet owners that can refuel at one central location. A Ford spokeswoman said the company phased out the vehicles because the market was too small.