Plug-In Hybrids Have Arrived

Wired:

Everything about Alison Gannett is green, from her straw-bale house to her solar-powered appliances. But when you're as serious about curbing carbon as she is, a mere hybrid won't do. That's why she spent $35,000 to install an extension cord on her Ford Escape Hybrid.

She is among a small but vocal -- and growing -- number of people who aren't waiting for automakers to deliver plug-in hybrids. These early adopters are shelling out big money to have already thrifty cars like the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape Hybrid converted into full-on plug-in hybrids capable of triple-digit fuel economy. "I love watching the mileage go up," says Gannett, a world champion extreme skier and dedicated eco-evangelist. "The highest I have gotten is 232 mpg. I average around 80-100 mpg."

Read the whole story: Wired

Comments

[LibRS]

Anyone mad about the mortgage mess? If so, watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj3YezuNuQo

[Xander]

I'm passing on this whole electricity thing. BMW is coming out with a 12 cylinder hydrogen powered model in the next 3 years. I'll certainly be grabbing one of those.

[ccpostman]

Hydrogen is still VERY VERY expense, plus it currently is only sold at a few stations in major cities. It does not make any sense to get a car fueled by hydrogen. Most car makers are putting all their R&D in electricity, since the grid is built already. Even CNG would be a better pick than Hydrogen!

Enjoy your Edsel...The wrong car at the wrong time.

[OldKnute]

Oh Please,

What you wrote is 100% misleading and totally inaccurate.

A single outlay of a few thousand dollars for a small Solar Array.

ONE TIME EXPENCE!

Can provide you with all the hydrogen you need for the next 25 YEARS.

It costs you NOTHING,, Zero, not one dime,, not one red cent! Nada, ZILCH,, NO DINERO,,, ZIP. With no other source of raw materials needed, than your OWN URINE.

Well,, Unless you have some secret method of magically corning the market on PISS.

NOW please stop!

Or go back to school!

All the best

Knute Neo-LIB

[KillTheMessenger]

Good for you.

Now, who has a real solution?

[KillTheMessenger]

For $35,000 she could have gotten enough wind energy offsets to make her effective fuel consumption negative. And what does she need to ride an SUV for? Can't she drive a real car?

[OldKnute]

Oh Killer,

Gosh,, you are still here?

Killer,,, LOOK,,, Global Warming is real,,, TREES work,,, Pollution is BAD,, Bio-Remediation is good because it has NO MOVING PARTS and makes money. Clean Coal is not only possible, but also MAKES MONEY! Buying Food Local is GOOD because the farmers make more money and the FOOD is better and you don"t have to ship it,,, 7 thousand miles. Converting existing stockpiles of SUVs is good because it shows that GM can still make money off unsold inventories. Farmers Markets are Thriving and probably the largest growth industry in America. Investing in Solar is underway because IT MAKES MONEY. Wind power is good because it is cheaper than Dinosaur hunting. Green Rooftop gardens in cities are good, because they sequester, while cooling the air, while cleaning the air and we get to EAT what they produce. Inner City Malls, Wal-Mart, Warehouse Roofs converted to Solar are GOOD because the energy is made where needed AND what would have been HEAT is now turned into Energy. Greenhouse farming and organics are good because we can have peaches and tomatoes in winter, right down the block. You can WALK there. Growing food is good because it creates jobs and people need to EAT!

Oh,, and,,,,,,

Wars for OIL SUCK, do not stimulate the economy and KILL PEOPLE!

Seeeeeee????????

All the best

Knute Neo-LIB < ----- Healing America ONE Call at a time.

[KillTheMessenger]

Still trolling, eh?

[TeslaFan]

THE FUTURE IS NOW!

Quit funding terrorism and start healing Mother Earth!

DESTROY THE TERRORIST OIL CARTEL.

http://www.teslamotors.com/

http://www.hybridtechnologies.com/

http://www.converdantvehicles.com/electric.html

[ccpostman]

The Tesla roadster is WAY over priced.

2010 is going to be the year all car companies are changing over to affordable full electric cars.

GM
Chrysler
VW
Ford
Volvo
Mercedes
Toyota
Nissan

And all the small makers like...
http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com

[KillTheMessenger]

Call me when even one of them becomes available and a price that makes sense.

[steamboat]

Even if such a car can be and is developed soon, what good will it be if the average middle-class and working-class person can't afford to buy it. Look how expensive those compact Prius's are. I can only imagine what they'll price these cars for.

[TeslaFan]

Better than sending your money to Osama Bin Laden.

Oil is Evil

[ccpostman]

Prius base price is around 21000. What are you buying, a bike?

http://www.costcoauto.com/research/results.aspx?modelid=17262&modelyear=2008

Maybe if you ask really nice, they will give you one for free!

[NoFreedomOfSpeechHere]

I wait for all electrics car. This car need no petrol, and better for envirment.

[TeslaFan]

http://www.teslamotors.com/

http://www.hybridtechnologies.com/

[likeicare]

I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but . . . hybrids are just fake rip-offs, designed by the same greedy-ass bastards who've been engineering cars for the last 100 years. They still require gasoline as fuel, and they have way too many moving parts -- which guarantees frequent repairs and parts -- the REAL money-maker for the auto industry (wink, wink)!

If a vehicle doesn't use gas -- or some form of energy which Big Oil effectively controls -- it's never going to be allowed to see the light of day -- it's that simple.

Why do you think hybrids were ever "allowed" to be marketed in the first place? It's b/c they used petroleum as their main source of power, and Detroit liked the fact that all those moving parts would translate into more business down the line as they needed to be replaced.

Big Oil is hoping they can stave off the all-electric vehicle tsunami that's about to break, long enuf until they can monopolize the lithium battery biz -- and control our energy sources, just like they always have.

[Earl]

Granted hybrids suck long term, but until you invent the perpetual motion vehicle, we're stuck with what we can get. You can convert a car to an EV yourself right now. Go do it.

[TeslaFan]

Convert Used Vehicles:

http://www.converdantvehicles.com/electric.html

[ccpostman]

"hybrids are just fake rip-offs" What design did the hybrid rip-off? They are NEW cutting edge technology that gets better every day. Try driving one.

"repairs and parts...the REAL money-maker for the auto industry" Gee, tell GM that, they are out one billion each month on poor sales! Don't you mean the oil companies???

"Why do you think hybrids were ever "allowed" Try LARGE market demand.

"can monopolize the lithium battery biz -- and control our energy sources" Power plants that generate electricity use MANY sources besides oil to produce power. These include - nuclear, coal, cng,etc. Your saying the oil companies are going to buy up all the electric utilities now? That will cost them a pretty penny!

Your wacky logic needs some re-tooling, like GMs car line!

[mamacat]

When a decent factory model is available for $20k or less, I will be onboard the band-wagon.

[Earl]

What about if the price of the car is $30k, but the price of a gallon of gas is $8?

[steamboat]

And if we don't drill or explore I suppose that'll happen. Europe has those prices now. And afterall, folks like you want us to be like Europe, right?............as it stands now, do I have to be a rich fat cat like a Bill Maher or RFK, Jr. to get such a car?

[DMSmith]

I drive a car that uses NO gasoline. No petroleum at all.
And it only cost me $3,500 to buy the car, not $35,000 just to convert one that cost about $20,000 to buy.
For the $55,000 or so that she paid for her car which still uses SOME petroleum, I can buy one hell of a lot of bio-diesel. And that bio-diesel is made locally using a commercial waste product - used vegetable oil from a potato chip factory.

And...I drive a Mercedes! And so can YOU!

[Earl]

What do you do with all the glycerine you have left over after converting the oil?

[Greggo]

I guess you have to be rich to be "environmentally friendly". A gas saving car is around $10K. I can buy a lot of gas for $25K.

[Earl]

You can buy an old Mercedes diesel for $3500 and convert it to run on veggie oil for $1500, and have $30k left over.

[TeslaFan]

http://www.converdantvehicles.com/electric.html

[TeslaFan]

And send A LOT of money to your buddy Osama!

[greenliberal]

Psst: A little solar panel action and you're carbon neutral.

No one is going to help us get there. We have to do it ourselves.

[BowlingForRevenge]

I'll bet hat $35K was not out of her pocket.

Those "SPONSORS" whose names are all over that car paid for it.

Would be nice if we all had sponsors.

[macohmz]

I thought we would've had flying cars by now?

[Earl]

I was promised a jet pack.

[Xander]

Yeah, too bad that they have no acceleration, no power (most of them can't even do 70), very limited range and will triple your electricity bills.

[greenliberal]

Your comments were true 3 years ago.

[NL207]

They are still true. None of the electric vehicles that do not also have an internal combustion engine get the kind of all-round performance people have come to expect from internal combustion engines. In particular, the most common shortfall is range. even the newest LiPo batteries, which are a vast improvement over earlier lead-acid and Nimh technologies, do not yet deliver acceptable range.

[Earl]

Watch an electric Pinto blow the doors off a gas burner. 90 MPH in a quarter mile.

http://www.nedra.com/

[TeslaFan]

You'd rather send your money to Osama Bin Laden?

[Earl]

Why isn't Nobel Prize Winning Environmentalist AL GORE driving one of these?

Quote from the article:
"People have had enough preaching. They need real live examples."

AMEN!!!

[grizhead63]

Big Oil is the villain, NOT Al Gore.

[Mort]

Earl didn't call Al a villain. But it would certainly look better for him to be doing some of these things and not making a profit on the sale of indulgences.

[Earl]

As some have said, you're either part of the solution, or you're part of the problem. My environmental heroes are demonstrating how to change our behavior, not just telling them.

[steamboat]

Call him up when he's flying in the private jet or riding in one of the limo's he travels around in and ask him?

[TeslaFan]

At least he didn't drive America into another depression like Bush/McCain.

[TeslaFan]

http://www.teslamotors.com/

[ccpostman]

The roll out for all these new electric cars is 2010. Can you hold it until than?

Also, Al Gore drives a American made a Hybrid Mercury. Do you drive American?