Plug-and-play Phoenix rises from ashes of US electric car

By Andy Goldberg Jun 30, 2006, 3:56 GMT

San Francisco - Imagine a vehicle that you could drive all day without harming the environment, with such great fuel economy that you would only need to fill up on petrol once a month.

On second thought, don't bother imagining. It Is not that such a vehicle is beyond the future potential of science, or - like proposals for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles - would require enormous investment in costly new infrastructure and delivery systems.

It's that the cars already exist.

It is certainly not the electric car EV-1, produced by GM from 1996 to 1999, which were never sold but only leased to 800 users - and recalled in 2003 to be flattened and recycled. At the time, GM cited low demand for the gas-free, low pollution marvels.

But that was before oil cost 70 dollars a barrel and more, and when it was still unimaginable that an oil industry friend like US President George W Bush would admit that the country was 'addicted' to oil.

Now there are the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles or PHEVs, which are fast gathering momentum despite their clumsy acronym and infant, year-old status.

The vehicles - still in a launch stage, with dozens being tested in Canada and the US - are popular hybrids like the Prius and Ford Escape, adapted with more powerful lithium batteries, updated software and an electric cable and plug to connect them to your own home electricity supply for an overnight charge.

The next day, you could wake up with a battery full of energy for a fraction of the cost of fossil fuel - and a range of 100 kilometres between charges that would allow most people to make their daily commute without using a drop of gas. And if they wanted to go further, they would still get over 20 kilometers per liter thanks to the hybrid engine.

None of the big automakers has yet committed to making these vehicles, although Ford, Daimler-Chrysler and Toyota are looking into them.

But several smaller companies such as Hymotion in Canada and eDrive in the US, both with promotional backing from the California- based CalCars, are converting vehicles as fast as they can for tryouts by fleet owners, power companies and operators like the city of Toronto.

'The plug-in hybrid is something that doesn't require any new technology,' said Professor Andrew Frank, a mechanical and aeronautical engineering professor at the University of California at Davis.

'It's a way we can solve our oil import problem today,' he added: 'We'd be using electricity, but it's nighttime electricity, not peak electricity. It reduces the cost of driving by a factor of six.'

So why isn't everyone driving them? The main reason is cost.

Adapting a hybrid for plug-in technology adds about 12,000 dollars to the vehicle cost, or more than 50 per cent, to the 21,725-dollar- cost of a basic Prius MSRP, for example.

At those prices, the adaptation appeals only to dedicated environmentalists who don't mind paying extra for the bragging rights of owning such a low pollution vehicle.

But that shouldn't stop major companies from taking the plunge, PHEV advocates say. Costs would dramatically drop with mass production, and efficiency would increase as companies design PHEVs from scratch, said Frank at a recent PHEV symposium at Stanford University.

Even without those price benefits, Felix Kramer, president of CalCars, believes the PHEVs are ready for prime time.

'I believe there are millions of Americans who will pay more for the environmental feature,' he said. 'Here's an opportunity to buy the world's cleanest, extended-range car.'

With increased publicity about the PHEVs, even Republican- controlled Washington is starting to take notice.

After a flash demonstration on Capitol Hill recently, Texas Republican Lamar Smith was inspired to start work on legislation to provide 250 million dollars in grants for battery research and development of a demonstration fleet.

Meanwhile, Ford and Toyota say they are examining the options of producing such vehicles for the consumer market, while Daimler Chrysler is already testing some 40 plug-in hybrid vans and will 'think about a market' later on.

But auto designers complain that the advanced lithium-ion batteries that are usually installed in the trunk are too expensive and weight too much, cancelling out the efficiency gains of the hybrid motor.