Convert your gas guzzler into a hybrid?
Turn it into a plug-in hybrid for just $7000?Two new companies will soon offer ways for consumers to convert their conventional vehicles into hybrid cars. In August Poulsen Hybrid will offer a $7000 conversion kit that will turn conventional vehicles into plug-in hybrid vehicles. Using electric motors in the rear wheels and a lithium battery pack, Poulsen hopes to double the mileage of any vehicle.
In 2009 VS Composites' $4,000 Electrocharger will be sold as a conversion kit that replaces the alternator with an electric generator, which is supposed to increase city fuel economy by 60 percent. (MSNBC)
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles
posted by Dahcredyns at
7:24 AM
10 Comments:
$7000 seems expesnive at first, but on larger vehicles, it seems like it might be worth it in some cases.
a friend of mine works in construction. he's spending $100 per day on his commute right now to a new construction site that he will be going to for a few months. such an option could save him $1000 per month - that's a huge savings.
additionally, that kind of fuel economy improvement is worth a tax credit.
will congress ever wake up?
It is NOT CONGRESS! It is BUSH who veto's everything that comes his way....please realize the difference. Congress tried to pass legislation to tax oil companies and use the $ for alternative energy investments but once again the repulicans and Bush filibustered.
You are sadly mistaken. Bush is part of the problem, as has been every President since Jimmy Carter and every Congress, probably ever.
You blame Bush. Democrats have been huge supporters of ethanol for example.
During the Clinton admin. foreign oil dependency witnessed one of the its greatest increases ever.
Just a few years ago, Democrats had the votes to change CAFE if they voted as a Bloc with open-minded Republicans, but they did not because of Michigan and the UAW.
Why hasn't Congress added any new tax credits for hybrids?
Tax oil companies. That's just a stupid band-aide that, according to many economists, would lead to higher gasoline prices.
High gas prices are good because they, unlike Congress, are finally leading to change.
If anybody is serious about ending foreign oil dependency, YOU MUST acknowledge the fact that foreign oil dependency has been a bipartisan failure for DECADES.
This blame bush idea is simplistic and naive.
Early in his campaign, even Obama told voters at a town meeting in Illinois to get out of SUVs, then he left and got into an SUV, but oh yeah, it used ethanol.
Stop blaming bush, start taking responsibility, and demand more from Congress. MUCH MORE!
For anybody that thinks foreign oil dependency is all the fault Chevron, Bush and Republicans, and that Democrats are sweetly innocent, I highly recommend 'The End of OIl', 'The Hydrogen Economy' and, especially 'ZOOM'.
NOCs have become the most powerful force in oil these days, and neither Bush, nor Republicans, nor Chevron can do much about it.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Saying its just Republicans is a distraction from reality. I'm not defending Republicans, I'm just asking that we also hold Democrats responsible for a problem they also contributed to for DECADES.
I'm too young to remember much about Jimmy Carter, but he was the ONLY president in recent decades to try to get serious about oil dependence - the ONLY one.
Partisanship doesn't work too well in Congress, nor amongst constituents.
When it comes to energy policy, most Presidents have missed the boat, regardless of party, so too have most members of Congress.
Cheers! Great response. And if you hear any more on these conversion kits I have a 1966 AMC Rambler I would love to make a hybrid, electric, or something other than gas runner.
I think the Big 3 are going to wait until gas prices reach $10 per gallon (and reap their oil stock rewards) before they begin to mass produce affordable hybrids, and/or 'plug-in' vehicles.
See, this way, their oil stocks will no loose profits when sold.
Gee, I thought this was about plug in vehicles not Bush, the oil companies and congress. Too bad no one seems to have anything constructive to add to a discussion about plug in vehicle systems being offerred.
Replacing an alternator with a generator makes no sense. Old cars had generators which put out direct current which were replaced by todays more reliable alternators which although they initially put out alternating current it is then rectified within the car's alternator thus producing the exact same ultimate output that the old generator put out so what does the substitution of a generator for an alternator accomplish???????? S like smoke and Sounds like smoke and mirrors.
well, without tax credits, plug-in hybrid vehicles are going to go nowhere fast, that's why bush and congress came up. without a serious, intelligent, aggressive energy policy that's all we'll ever do is talk about plug-in hybrids rather than drive them.
also, i think its important to understand that the conversions referenced in this post are regarding converting conventional vehicles into hybrids and/or plug-in hybrids, so it wasn't really a discussion about plug-in hybrid technology per say. it was more about whether it would be worth $7000 to convert a conventional vehicle into a hybrid vehicle.
Still, I think your point re: the electrocharger is a good one.
Very interesting debate, all.
Dahcredyns, your mate in construction with the $100 per day commute problem. What is he driving? A Russian tank?
I suspect hybrids are too complex for most people to keep gong and to fix. Already, it is beyond most people to deal with computer-controlled engines. Add an electric motor on top of that and you have a nightmare.
I know batteries are inadequate still, for range, but I think we simply have to give up commuting in transcontinental racing machines. The way to go may be to leave one's ego at home, have a purely electric commuter vehicle, and hire a range car for the long runs.
I'm in Australia, have worked mostly in mineral exploration, and that is what exploration companies do. We hire four-wheel drives as and where we need them. In town, we use whatever is suitable - public or private, often commuter trains or taxis.
peter -
he drives the big toyota pickup, and he had to go from LA to outside lancaster - a good distance. yet, getting out of LA to lancaster during work hours incurs a lot of traffic, so it isn't highway miles, it's lots of congestion for a long distance.
i couldn't agree more with your line "but I think we simply have to give up commuting in transcontinental racing machines."
still i think hybrids are far more important than you suggest. hybrids can make cost effective sense today and they don't require consumers to make much change - something consumers are very resistant to do. additionally, plug-in hybrids are the next step to help drivers overcome range anxiety.
for those tens of millions of us whom live in california that experience blackouts, that have experienced complete loss of electric power for days caused by earthquakes, the difference between a plug-in hybrid and an EV could be a very important difference.
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