This is by Jim Motavalli, author of the popular book: Forward Drive: The
Race to Build "Clean" Cars for the Future (Sierra Books, 2000)
Motavalli is editor of E: The Environmental Magazine
<http://www.emagazine.com>.

He is also a syndicated columnist, and this was published in his "Wheels"
column, which runs in seven newspapers in Connecticut, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, including:
http://www.southwestphillyreview.com/view_article.php?id=3605

The Prius Plus
Plug-in power extends the hybrid's range.

By Jim Motavalli
August 11, 2005

CAPTION: Lithium-ion batteries installed in a prototype plug-in Prius.

One of the most frequently asked questions I get about hybrid cars like the
Toyota Prius is, "Do they have to be plugged in?" No, I say, they don't.
The batteries are charged up by the gas engine, not by plugging into the
wall. It's my impression that a lot of people have avoided hybrids because
of this common misconception.

But here's a twist that may confuse even more people. The plug-in hybrids
are coming! They are hybrids with bigger batteries, allowing them to be
used as zero-emission electric cars for local runs and commuting. The gas
engine is in reserve for longer trips.

Today's hybrids hint at such capacity. A little-known fact about the Prius
is that in its European and Japanese editions, it comes with a switch that
allows the vehicle to be driven in battery-only mode, albeit only for a
mile or so. In my experience with the Ford Escape Hybrid, the gridlock I
experienced on one 15-mile drive home meant I never topped 20 miles per
hour--and so I traveled in electric mode most of the way.

The plug-in hybrid acknowledges that the car's battery pack can do more
than just serve as an adjunct to the gas engine. Felix Kramer, an amiable
Californian I first encountered at a recent Bioneers conference, is a very
effective booster for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

In fact, Kramer says a PHEV with a larger battery pack than that usually
seen in hybrids can deliver more than 100 miles per gallon (plus electric
costs of one to two cents per mile). The benefits of a PHEV, Kramer's
California Cars Initiative says, are many. A PHEV is a recharging-optional
vehicle that, if used mostly in electric mode, can visit gas stations only
about once a month. It should also be cheaper to maintain than a
zero-emission battery car, with a much greater range making it practical.

The car companies aren't building PHEVs yet (though DaimlerChrysler is
testing PHEV 15-passenger vans). Kramer and his cohort Ron Gremban turned
the latter's 2004 Prius into a PHEV by stationing 18 lead-acid batteries
(sourced from an electric bicycle) in the empty well beneath the hatchback
deck. The 300-pound pack (good for 10 miles of travel on its own) can be
recharged in three hours via a conventional 110-volt outlet. The "Prius+"
stays in electric-only mode (at a cost of 1.25 cents per mile) until it
reaches 34 mph and the gas engine kicks in.

With lighter, more efficient lithium-ion batteries, the performance should
improve significantly. EDrive Systems is testing a prototype Prius+ using
Valence Technology lithium-in batteries that can do nearly 35 miles as an
electric, and deliver 120 to 180 mpg. The EDrive kits for the Prius will
reportedly be available for sale in 2006. The drawbacks are that the system
would void the warranty and cost $10,000 to $12,000 over and above the cost
of the Prius.

High-mileage vehicles are climate change fighters. "Our goal," say Kramer
and Gremban, "is to persuade Toyota and other automakers to build PHEVs for
a market we expect to expand as the Kyoto Protocols and parallel state and
international greenhouse gas initiatives are phased in." Kramer envisions
millions of plug-in hybrids getting their electricity from the off-peak
grid and eventually from photovoltaic and wind power.

The visionary Paul MacCready, who designed both human- and solar-powered
aircraft, as well as the prototype that became the General Motors electric
car, is sanguine about plug-in hybrids "with enough electricity built in to
provide all your transportation for maybe a 60- to 100- mile range. The
average driver of such a car would operate exclusively on the battery for
80 to 90 percent of the time, with the few trips farther out requiring use
of the gasoline motor to go any distance they want." Makes sense to me.


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Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calcars-news
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/priusplus
http://www.hybridcars.com/blogs/power
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