Jason wrote:
> Tweaked hybrid gets 80 miles per gallon
>
>
> By Tim Molloy Associated Press
>
>
> CORTE MADERA, Calif. -- Politicians and automakers say a car that can both
> reduce greenhouse gases and free America from its reliance on foreign oil
> is years or even decades away.
>
> Ron Gremban says such a car is parked in his garage.
>
> It looks like a typical Toyota Prius hybrid, but in the trunk sits an 80
> miles-per-gallon secret -- a stack of 18 brick-size batteries that boosts
> the car's high mileage with an extra electrical charge so it can burn even
> less fuel.
>
> Gremban, an electrical engineer and committed environmentalist, spent
> several months and $3,000 tinkering with his car.
>
> Like all hybrids, his Prius increases fuel efficiency by harnessing small
> amounts of electricity generated during braking and coasting. The extra
> batteries let him store extra power by plugging the car into a wall outlet
> at his home in this San Francisco suburb -- all for about a quarter.
>
> He's part of a small but growing movement. "Plug-in" hybrids aren't yet
> cost-efficient, but some of the dozen known experimental models have
> gotten up to 250 mpg.
>
> They have support not only from environmentalists but also from
> conservative foreign-policy hawks who insist Americans fuel terrorism
> through their gas guzzling.
>
> And while the technology has existed for three decades, automakers are
> beginning to take notice, too.
>
> So far, DaimlerChrysler AG is the only company that has committed to
> building its own plug-in hybrids, quietly pledging to make up to 40 vans
> for U.S. companies. But Toyota Motor Corp. officials who initially frowned
> on people altering their cars now say they may be able to learn from them.
>
> "They're like the hot rodders of yesterday who did everything to soup up
> their cars. It was all about horsepower and bling-bling, lots of chrome
> and accessories," said Cindy Knight, a Toyota spokeswoman. "Maybe the hot
> rodders of tomorrow are the people who want to get in there and see what
> they can do about increasing fuel economy."
>
> The extra batteries let Gremban drive for 20 miles with a 50-50 mix of gas
> and electricity. Even after the car runs out of power from the batteries
> and switches to the standard hybrid mode, it gets the typical Prius fuel
> efficiency of around 45 mpg. As long as Gremban doesn't drive too far in a
> day, he says, he gets 80 mpg.
>
> "The value of plug-in hybrids is they can dramatically reduce gasoline
> usage for the first few miles every day," Gremban said. "The average for
> people's usage of a car is somewhere around 30 to 40 miles per day. During
> that kind of driving, the plug-in hybrid can make a dramatic difference."
>
> Backers of plug-in hybrids acknowledge that the electricity to boost their
> cars generally comes from fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases, but
> they say that process still produces far less pollution than oil. They
> also note that electricity could be generated cleanly from solar power.
>
> Gremban rigged his car to promote the nonprofit CalCars Initiative, a San
> Francisco Bay area-based volunteer effort that argues automakers could
> mass produce plug-in hybrids at a reasonable price.
>
> But Toyota and other car companies say they are worried about the cost,
> convenience and safety of plug-in hybrids -- and note that consumers
> haven't embraced all-electric cars because of the inconvenience of
> recharging them like giant cell phones.
>
> Automakers have spent millions of dollars telling motorists that hybrids
> don't need to be plugged in, and don't want to confuse the message.
>
> Nonetheless, plug-in hybrids are starting to get the backing of prominent
> hawks like former CIA Director James Woolsey and Frank Gaffney, President
> Reagan's undersecretary of defense. They have joined Set America Free, a
> group that wants the government to spend $12 billion over four years on
> plug-in hybrids, alternative fuels and other measures to reduce foreign
> oil dependence.
>
> Gaffney, who heads the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy,
> said Americans would embrace plug-ins if they understood arguments from
> him and others who say gasoline contributes to oil-rich Middle Eastern
> governments that support terrorism.
>
> "The more we are consuming oil that either comes from places that are bent
> on our destruction or helping those who are ... the more we are enabling
> those who are trying to kill us," Gaffney said.
>
> DaimlerChrysler spokesman Nick Cappa said plug-in hybrids are ideal for
> companies with fleets of vehicles that can be recharged at a central
> location at night. He declined to name the companies buying the vehicles
> and said he did not know the vehicles' mileage or cost, or when they would
> be available. On the Net:
>
> CalCars Initiative: calcars.org
>

that's one of the dumbest articles i've ever seen. where do these
idiots thing the "plug in" energy comes from? just pull out the gas
motor & replace entirely with batteries! then it's an infinite mpg
vehicle. thanks for the laugh.