Automakers have shown great success in minimizing or eliminating tail pipe emissions. All-electric vehicles produce none, of course, and gasoline-powered engines are radically cleaner than they were just a decade ago.

But now, some people are pointing to the manufacturing process as the next frontier. They note that much of the environmental impact of cars comes in mining, processing and assembling the component parts of the car.

OC Register motor critic Sue Carpenter joins us to talk about some new approaches that use cutting edge technology and some very radical new ideas that could provide a much greener, and perhaps cheaper way of putting together automobiles.

Read Susan's OC Register story about a prototype supercar manufactured using an alternative production method.