Universal "Plug In Hybrid" retrofit

[Ash]

A plug in Hybrid retrofit kit? looks to be closer than one would think. Just saw a small video piece Yahoo did on this, and looked it up. In the Yahoo video, Charles states they are aiming for a $3,000 out the door price. When asked of the install specifics, he states "As a gear-head, I would say If you can change your brakes, you can probably install this kit"..."80% of us drive 40 miles or less at 45 mph or less. That is the market this is designed for". If this effectively doubles the MPG rating of a vehicle, adding this to a cheap, sporty, and fuel efficient used car like a base engine 1.8 liter 6th gen Celica for example, would yield a 60-70 mpg car. I think a kit like this, as affordable as this, would put a Home solar bank on many more Americans radar. The break even timeline would be shortened by a substantial margin (depending on how much you commute), especially if 2 household vehicles were utilizing the off-the-grid bank in tandem with your House. Small Businesses would cut their fuel bill in half, Local A.F.V. tax breaks, and a bonus Federal Tax incentive for offering a public charging station. Anybody else caught off guard by this? Brings to mind watching Gattaca years ago, and seeing all the classic mid 20th century cars being parked and plugged into charging stations. How fanciful and far off this image seemed.





Yahoo "This Could Be Big" webisode