They are replacing regular cars with electrics. Some like the Elec Auto Assic member convert regular cars to all electric so you don't have to start from zero and make a new car.

It all takes time and money. If our countrey didn't subsidies oil it would happen much faster. Check out the amazing new EVs like aptera, Nissan LEAF, Tesla and others.

check www.EVworld.com

I heard that the hybrid cars are having some really good vehicle magnets to improve the durability of their batteries and now the only thing that I can't figure out is why don't they replace this normal vehicles that are polluting our environment with new ones based on electricity?

Even the new GM VOLT will have smart charging to only charge off peak and not pull the grid down dure peak time of days. We have mega watts of waste off peak. We could charge all vehicles with no new power plants. For sure if they are hybrid, not so sure if they are 100% electric and your low, your low and have to plug in.

The nicest part of a plug-in hybrid is it can be made for your need. If you can afford a $100,000 Tesla fine but most of us can't. If you only drive 5 or 10 miles to work why pay for a pure electric that can go 240 miles on a charge ?

The hybrid is scalable, you get what you can afford with the range you need.

The new Tesla S family EV will be similar. You can buy it with 3 levels of battery range. 100,200 and 300 or a similar number. That make a lot of sense to me and CENTS to you.

The ACPropulsion T-Zero and eBox have a detachable Long Ranger NG trailer for long trips. This is also smart as you can have a detachable hybrid and pure electric for 90% of driving. Maybe car rental location will have these by the day rentals.

The is also the V2G Vehicle to Grid system from ACPropulsion so you can use your EV to charge off peak, sell on Peak and even backup power for your home if the GRID fails. It could make you $5,000 a year just buying off peak to charge and selling on peak.

Smart ideas, slowly connecting up to make EV's better and help the entire grid while saving you money and saving the environment.

I admit that until some weeks ago I didn't know what were the hybrid cars, but after reading the review of google nemesis I was totally convinced that these cars can really help us save the world from global warming.

It is good to see that at least someone else has thought about this.
When you look at the mileage for these they don't calculate the fuel
expended to obtain the alternative power Ethanol seems to be a true
reduction but of course even that is produced with some amount of
pollution going all of the way back to the tractors and equipment used
to produce the corn or other plant product used.

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Plug-in hybrids are just what they sound like: a gasoline-engine hybrid
vehicle that has a battery that can be plugged in for recharging fuel economy. They
are being designed to handle a commuter-type range (20 to 60 miles) on
just their electric charge, with the internal combustion engine
providing valuable backup. Plug-in hybrids will help to provide a
stepping-stone for folks who aren’t able to utilize all-electric cars
due to their shortened range.

Add this up, If you install a solar grid tied system you can also get a plug-in hybrid or even an electric car. Then the solar system pays off 4 times or more faster.

Why ?, because you can use 80 cents of electric power which equals a gallon of gas at $3.50 or diesel at 4.50 . And rising,

you do the math, it's a great dela and saves the world. wind or small hydro could also work depending on your area.

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the plug-in hybrid company hymotion got back to me and said my installation will be in August. That also maybe when they add a Mesa installation location. That is really worth waiting for.

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these are very efficient and nice. They also have a full electric version.

The only problem is you can only buy them in California so far. They have actually put them in production yet, but it would be real nice and maybe be a key to new offers in the future.

They also may win the automotive X-Prize.

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Check out the Aptera at http://www.aptera.com/details.php

This hybrid gets over 230mpg at a steady 55mph. Technically, it is a 3 wheeled motorcycle with room for 2.5 peeps and luggage in a 3 door hatchback set up. Looks right out of a sci fi movie. Sweet looking car, check it out.

JD 

The San Diego Electric Vehicle group will have info at their next meeting on plug-in hybrids Sept 25th.

 http://www.evaosd.com/

Next Meeting:         Tuesday, September 25, 2007 @  7 p.m. (the 4^th Tuesday)

Topic #1:                 PHEV Conversions w/ NiMH by Kim Adelman - www.pluginconversions.com  Topic #2:                 Twike peddle assist EV by Linda Irish – www.twike.us

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I've read that Lithium batteries were sometimes prone to overheating and catching fire, maybe exploding. Have these issues been addressed?

Interesting,

With so many new technologie emerging, it is best approach to add the best and most proven systems all in one. I have been researching this approach from start, and there one thing I had learned is that there is no perfect fuel alternative, even with all electric hybrids, there are safety concerns by emergency workers, so best to put all the best in one system.

The solar roof system shows promise, along with capacitor systems along with more advanced batter back ups and more efficient electric motors, then combine it with hydrogen injection, and if we had more clean diesels with new direct injection like the German companies are using, then use hydrogen, and running on biodiesel, now we would be talking about the cleanest and most economical and most powerful vehciles on the road.

Mike

lithium battery prius battery pack maker A123 promises to have a plug-in mass production in 2008. It will take about 1 hour to install. Testing show 150-175 mpg on short trips.

Billy345 I don't think you got your answer on hybrids compared to the new CDI clean bio-diesel vehicles.
Judge for yourself with a few of this items.
Can the bio-diesel stop idling at the light or stop signs ? (NO)
Can it shut down it's motor when at spped or slowing down ? (NO)
Can it use regenerative braking and recapture that energy to run with ? (NO)
No, so far only a full hybird can do all those great things. Someday a series bio-diesel hybrid will come out and do those and run on clean diesel. Thta will be a real fair comparision. Until then I feel the full hybrid like the Prius has the best efficiency.
When we get plug-in hybrids they could also be made to run on bio-diesel but so far all have been gas models. They could also use injected hybridgen or E85 .
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I've heard much debate on the "true" effiecientcy of the hybrid vehicles vs. the next gen diesel cars. While a hybrid essentially stops at a red light, thus have zeor emmissions, over all it seems that the notion of efficientcy combined with the option to offset petrolium based fuel wiht BioDiesel, it's creates an interesting argument as to which is perferred. As I'm sure many of you know in Europe almost all of the cars on the road are Diesel. They run forever (litterally) and get VERY good fuel efficientcy.

Last week I was riding with a friend that has a Mercedes CDI which runs on a BioDiesel blent - the car has been "tuned" to the point that it is faster than most of the other cars on the road includeing its gasoline brother and we were cruzing on the highway at over 80 MPH averaging just under 40 MPG with 4 adults and plent of room. Don't get me wrong - I love the Hybrid but I wonder if the Hybid would have performed as well on the highway at that speed with load this car was holding - also - it was buring clean - BioDiesel so the fuel was domestically harvested and at about the same price as the petroleum based diesel -

I've also heard that the stick (vs automatic drive) diesels simply do get better fuel mileage than the hybrid. Now- as you right above - if the next gen Prium is going to get 90 MPG - REALLY not just based on what is advertised, then the debate will likely be over.

Just thougth I'd share my thoughts on the subject as it's not alway clear.

BTW - I think your info on the differnces of the Honda vs Toyota is very good - I recall someone asking this questions in one of the discussion earlier- you may want to provide some of the info above in response to that person as I'm not sure the reponses they got were as compelete as you provide above.

Keep it Green!!!

Billy -

Congradulations, I wanted to make my own PHEV but I don't want to use lead acid batteries. The first cal cars PHEV batteries only lasted about 1 year.
I think using 150 year old technology and toxic lead is not the best solution. I've been trying to get lithium batteries or a company that does conversions with them to do my vehicle. I'm very willing to pay 10-12K but so far the 3 companies doing conversions are not ready quite yet.
EnergyCS, hybrids-plus and hymotion say they should be able to offer conversions for about 10K within a year. I'll just have to wait for the best.
In 08 Toyota will make the prius with lithium batteries but no plug yet. It will get about 90 mpg. That may also be the next best choice.
PS I also have solar energy to offset my charging. Plus I pay for 8 blocks of renewable energy at 800 kwh that I doesn't even use. It keeps the power company making more clean energy until I can charge my PHEV.
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Hello, My family is happy to own the first privately owned PHEV in Texas. I have been buying parts for the conversion since November 2006 and now it is done. This is an open source project so if you want more information on how to do it yourself read about this not-for-profit company Calcars.org.

We purchase wind energy from our electric provider to charge our PHEV, so we are offsetting our fuel usage with wind and not coal. One day I hope to use solar from the roof of my home to power our car.

This is not a one size fits all solution but it is a start. I can use my car as a full electric vehicle for shopping and errands during the weekend.