Drivers Get Charged Up About Plugging In Cars. By Bina Venkataraman, BGlobe, November 8, 2008. "A growing cadre of energy-conscious drivers is leapfrogging auto makers by turning Prius hybrids into plug-in cars, installing an extra battery that comes with a hefty price tag. Since July, when a Watertown [Mass.] company, A123Systems, began selling the $10,000 batteries online, at least 200 hybrid owners have had them installed. The six garages in the country licensed to install them have filled their calendars through December... The batteries allow drivers of the Toyota Prius, already the most fuel-efficient car sold in the United States, to plug in their cars... When fully charged, the battery ratchets fuel efficiency up to 100 miles per gallon for as much as 40 miles at a time, after which the car switches back to running like a regular Prius, which gets about half that fuel efficiency. Still, the drivers are unlikely to ever recoup the steep cost of the battery in fuel savings, unless gas far exceeds the recent high of more than $4 a gallon or the car is driven more than 250,000 miles."
2008-11-09
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