Originally published on April 1, 2008 on my environmental blog, this article cites many great sources fron authors here on Gather.
What is a plug-in hybrid? It is a car that runs on electricity via a battery that you can charge by plugging into a regular electrical outlet. These cars, being hybrids, also have gas tanks that can be used to power the car and recharge the battery, giving you what some might call the best of all world's (assuming mass transit, bicycling or walking aren't options). Best of all would be to burn no liquid fuel, but plug-in hybrids allow us to reach, or closely approach, this ideal in many cases.
What is different about plug-in hybrids? The plug! Current commercial hybrid cars use batteries, but they inconveniently keep a barrier between you and the electric company. You have to burn gasoline (petrol) to charge the battery.
How can you buy a plug-in hybrid? You can buy a hybrid car "off the shelf" and have it converted to a plug-in hybrid. This service is available in the US, the UK and elsewhere. Plug-in hybrids may be available directly from Toyota by 2010. For more information on plug-in hybrid cars, the following sites are very valuable: Plug-in Partners, Plug-in America, Hybrids Plus (a manufacturer of plug-in hybrids in the US). See also the DVD "Who Killed the Electric Car?", read the book "Plug-in Hybrids: the cars that will recharge America", and read the blog "plugs and cars". The site "What Green Car?" provides information about plug-in hybrids for consumers in the U.K.
What are the running costs of plug-in hybrids? Estimates suggest that the transportation costs are equivalent to gasoline at $1.00/gallon.
Don't forget that purely electric cars and trucks and buses are also available in the US, the UK, and elsewhere. For example, in the US, Tesla Motors, Volt and Phoenix Motor cars offer a range from trucks to sports cars. I wrote a recent, short post on very small and inexpensive electric cars being made for India. Marketplace on NPR, March 31, discussed the very limited numbere of hybrid vehicles being made available by Chevrolet, and how this seems to be more of a PR exercise than anything else.
I'd like to hear about other plug-in hybrid and electric car options in the US and around the world, and people's reaction to (a) the low cost of plug-in hybrids coupled with the security of a gas tank if you need it, vs. (b) purely electric cars, which now have long range driving ability as well as high power (in some cases).
Don't forget that you can couple electric cars or plug-in hybrids with solar and/or wind powered electric systems for your home or work-place to minimize or eliminate the use of liquid hydrocarbon fuels like gasoline/petrol, ethanol, etc. You can even run your home off your car battery!
© James K. Bashkin, 2008
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Comments: 26
Richard, that is a great question, and the answer is yes, this has been looked into extensively. That is why I used so many links in this story, to point people to information like that. The answer comes from articles here on gather and elsewhere, by Sam Carana, Steve B., Ethan G. (no place like solar home) and others, and titles include "England expect to power all homes with wind power by 2020," and extensive other writing by Sam and Steve on the use of solar power to supplant coal and charge cars. Solar panels on commercial buildings were just described by Sam (I have a link to his article in mine, or you can go to his name in gather and look at the articles), the same with many others I mention here.
In fact, if many of us add solar power, we can charge our cars and run our houses and have electricity left over to contribute to the grid, rather than further stress it. See Sam Carana again, and Steve B.
Germany is dramatically increasing solar and wind power use, as is Spain. This is very possible to do, if there is a will to accomplish these goals at top political levels.
New solar power materials for panels are cheaper than coal (many of us have written about Nanosolar and related companies).
Thanks for the feedback and excellent question.
Ed: I don't know what you like or what would turn you on, but the nearly $100,000 electric Tesla is everything a Ferrari is, and more, at 1/3 the price, except it doesn't get only 8-12 mpg on a 12 cylinder engine. Not my kind of car, or my kind of price range, but if you want to be electrified, you should look at its power and acceleration specs. The link goes to Sam Carana's article.
All: Thanks for the feedback. Please see Steve B's article on NanoSolar's Powersheets, the new non-silicon-based solar panels that are light weight and very efficient, and Rebecca Novak's Articles on converting vehicles into electric vehicles, here
and http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977197572&grpId=3659174697251325&nav=Groupspace.
Nearly nothing but novels: fiction and crime fiction book reviews
Chemistry for a sustainable world
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977197769&grpId=3659174697251325&nav=Groupspace
and another attempt at a link
For all the hype about potential wind and solar energy, we will still be powering plug-in's from the electricity generated by nuclear and coal for decades to come.
Even in the interim, the electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid solutions solve a lot of problems, including air pollution in cities (if not near coal plants) and dependence on foreign oil. Nothing is going to happen like magic, overnight- the questions are, when are we going to start making the right decisions and moving in the right directions?
I meant to say "probably not solar" in my response to Debra above, regarding "just plugging in."
Rachel, I had the same experience. There was a guy who drove all over town in his electric car, which was really a mini truck, back in the 60's and 70's where I grew up. You can buy an electric trucks now. One example is:
"The All-New Phoenix SUT
Introducing the all-new sport utility truck (SUT) from Phoenix Motorcars. The four-passenger, advanced battery electric, zero-emission SUT that can travel at freeway speed. Equipped with a revolutionary lithium titanate battery, this SUT will travel over 100 miles on a single 10-minute charge.* Designed with a sophisticated chassis and regenerative braking, this fully electric vehicle is not only powerful, it's practical and really cool.
* Off-Board High-Power 250kW Charger required for 10-minute charge."
See it at Phoenix motor cars
Ellie: Any hybrid, or any high mpg vehicle for that matter, will be a dramatic help vs. the alternative of low mpg cars. However, going with a hybrid or plug-in hybrid helps pull the country and push the manufacturers in that direction.
I don't understand the "SUV mentality" either- it is a long way from "think not what your country can do for you,..." The thing is, the person "who can afford $5/gallon" in her SUV is the same person who could afford to install solar power, buy a hybrid and convert it to a plug-in hybrid. It's nice to know that tax breaks for the well-to-do are benefiting the country and our independence from foreign oil so dramatically (or not, which is actually the case with the majority of people).
Of course, in Europe, gas costs $10/gallon. This makes hybrids and electric cars that much more attractive. I believe that $4/gallon was predicted by the Federal government to be the breaking point for many in the US regarding switching to high mpg cars, including hybrids. We'll be there soon.
Your point is unfortunately true, but only because we don't have the right tax breaks in place. Let's hope they are implemented soon (like right after the regime change in Washington).
You are right to be concerned about batteries, but there are now lots of places doing careful recycling of the materials in batteries and other electronics (but they aren't careful in China.
Thanks for the feedback and thoughtful comments!
So, batteries shouldn't be a problem, but we will have to do our part: they should be sent to electronics recycling places, not put in the trash. My city has free electronics recycling, so some governments are on the right track.
Something else along the same lines are these doo-hickies
Any chance Home Builders will soon be making these an option ?
Is the government offering any rebate or tax incentive for home builders/home buyers/home owners to utilize this technology ?
State taxes credits can be helpful or nonexistent, depending on where you live. Pacific Northwestern states seem to be good, for example, along with California.
We need what you suggest, but I would say that we don't have a credible, serious, committed national energy policy (other than feed oil companies).
So, what is happening is more haphazard than it should be, though some good things are going on. See Solar Pane;s on Roofs of Commercial Buildings by Sam Carana.