First Plugin Hybrid?
There are a number of plugin hybrid cars on the road now, mostly conversions of the Toyota Prius, by engineers such as those in Silicon Valley. These engineers are driving around, every day, in their plugin Prius. It seems clear that the technology works.
Toyota plans to introduce a plugin Prius soon; hopefully, this will appear by 2010. A plugin hybrid is plugged in to the AC outlet your wall, usually at night, to charge up the batteries before you drive. A lot of people are waiting, and hoping. And once this car is introduced, the hobbyist can make modifications to have larger and longer-lasting batteries, and more range.
General Motors has talked for years about the Chevy Volt. We are very interested to see one; they are not yet in the showrooms. Most likely GM will price the Volt too high, so that few people will buy it. Also, it seems likely that GM will not offer battery options. We would like to see different battery sizes, so that some consumers who have a shorter daily commute, can choose a smaller battery, and thus save money on their purchase of the car. However it does not seem like GM will be offering battery options.
Hybrid technology was invented in the US, at a college called UC Davis. But GM, Ford, and other American auto makers did not care. Only Toyota saw the real potential, and we thank Toyota for the Prius. I would love to see American car companies make more effort, but only time will tell. While there are American hybrids now, it still feels like American companies are only doing this to promote an image; it does not yet feel like there is a commitment to these new technologies across the whole corporation.
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