CalCar's Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electrical Vehicles ('04)

[whole27]

The CHevy Volt does 40 miles on electric alone before it kicks into gas power so why can Toyota only do 12 miles on electric on their plug in that will come out!?? I wish they got 40-50 miles, i'd buy 10 of those!

[cplai]

@whole27 I guess it is due to the cost and weight of the batteries. There is a trade off between the mileage you gain vs. the weight your car carry and the price the buy want to pay for the batteries. Another consideration is life span of the batteries. Prius only use the batteries from 40%-80% charge level in order to ensure long life. Volt may push the limit and let the batteries die in a year or two.

[whole27]

@cplai interesting, yes that makes sense...american manufacturers do have a history of pushing the limits and making their cars looks good initially and then within months, even their brand new cars have issues! They are not reliable at all. I was wondering why Toyota couldn't match that 40 miles on electric but trying to make the battery last longer makes sense but i still am hoping for big gains in lithium batteries in a few years to increase the electric mileage

[cplai]

@whole27 There are two design objectives: long life vs. long range. Electric cars or plug in require long range, hence the batteries will be over charged and over drained repeatedly. Based on our experience with laptop batteries, we know the life span is about 2 to 3 years. If Toyota don't protect the batteries, they would bankrupt to warranty their batteries for 8 years in the US (10 years or 150K miles in California, New York and other clean fuel States). Battery technology needs breakthrough.

[whole27]

@cplai yea batteries do need breakthrough and all the car companies are working on that as we speak...i was just reading about it in the paper today. How all the car companies are racing to create the perfect lithium battery to build an ideal electric car because that is the only thing that will extend the range and life and thus attract the consumers to ditch gas dependant cars altogether.

I love the Prius's, they look great and already go at least 50 mpg...just wait 5 years! 100mpg maybe

[cplai]

@whole27 What the car makers are doing is just improving existing technologies. The breakthrough I was thinking about is something we have not seen yet that has super high energy storage capacity, fast charging time, long life and extreme light weight. Hopefully nano technology and material science research can invent something with those properties. Or bypass batteries all together if cold fusion comes true. Those are tasks for scientists before engineers make available to everyone.

[whole27]

@cplai yeah, good point. Well it seems as though they only recently started focusing on this battery issue...if we had focused on it 10 years ago, we would have had improved upon it significantly by now but whatever...in 5-10 years...they should figure it out. With all this outrage over oil prices and move towards hybrids and even 100% electric cars, i'm suprised the oil companies haven't lowered the price to prevent permanent anger but i think its already done and i'm glad..fuck gas altogether

[bykashka75]

the way he walks it tells it all, he likes it from the ass

[rickymwinter123]

only a baboon would want to look at the back side of a baboon

[HackingPrius]

this is great stuff! I could not find much at all about CalCar on google or youtube search.

[amoringis]

Hydrogen made out of normal, regular " Fossil fuels"? Dude what kind of education did you have? I don't have to elaborate because the thing speak for itself.

[Gslr722]

Yeah but first, its an uglycar, second only fags drive them.

[leon323]

forget the prius. that car can KILL you ! 10 technicians die every month and counting in the U.S and Japan ass well as other people that touch the wrong thing in this car by accident.

[cplai]

Do you know how many Prius are on the road since its introduction in 1997?  10 out of millions are too insignificant to establish as a pattern.

Many more people were killed by lightning each year. The difference is that one is caused by the act of god and the other is caused by lack of training or stupidity.

[leon323]

I say its lack of training by Toyota by not training there technicians befor letting them work on the car and allso is shying away from letting there CUSTOMERS know about the harm that this car can do to them.

[cplai]

The Prius uses a 200V battery that drives a 500V electrical system after stepping up. The outlet at your home is only at 110V, do you play with your electric outlet without taking precaution? So if anyone think they can play with a 500V system without training deserves a Darwin award. Besides all the high voltage parts on the Prius are in bright orange color. Nothing can help stupidity. No warning can help when people choose not to look or listen.

[leon323]

yes i know about the battery and the power it has, but unfortunately not all technicians or customers know about this. So when the backyard technician or automotive school graduate who TOYOTA hires get the opportunity the work on the prius they are working on it without knowing what this car can do to them.

[statultra]

Toyota has hybrid technicians, the car isnt going to kill you if u change oil, people dont go cutting wires and stuff on these vehicles, the wires are orange, and as long as u dont mess with them your good. When the car is off there is no power to the front of the vehicle, and if theres any work on high voltage system the dealer has specific warnings to disconnect the service plug. Dont come up in here bringing false statistics about 10 people per month, the prius is very safe.

[leon323]

safe is not the word i would use on this car. economical cars, best bang for your money YES but not safe for the backyard technician or automotive school graduate who TOYOTA hires. also not safe for instalers who do car systems.

[statultra]

if someone is stupid enough to cut into the orange wires they will get killed, everything is clearly marked, i am a "backyard" tech and i have experience with two crashed toyota priuses and a honda accord hybrid, so far i have not gotten shocked or killed, and i have taken apart the high voltage battery, either your backyard techs you are describing are idiots or just blind

[geoak]

You said "forget the prius. that car can KILL you !". So what do you mean that if the company which produces power to send it to your home outlet hires a graduate and this guy dies during work you must forget the electricity and stop using the power outlet at home?

[cplai]

You don't have to take those comments too seriously. All Luddites are scared of new thing. Even the Prius is 11 years old, it won't change some people's attitude. Give them a few decades, when there is no more gasoline cars, these people will live with electricity at peace.

[SpaceOtterAmbassador]

No I'd rather convert my Taurus to whatever future gibbldy de goop cars travel on than own a Prius.

Instead of being an ugly innovation in possible green cars it will be an ugly face in the crowd.

[akhare0419]

Calcar's Plug-in works for 30 miles on electric charge giving. After that original hybrid milage of 45-55 mpg kicks in.

If total miles driven have 50% on Electricity, then overall gas mileage will be 2x45=90 mpg (45=mpg for hybrid)

[namniekib]

Haha...don't listen to the man with a cowboy hat or a turban.Plug-ins and biodiesel are the future.

[elky78]

Okay, reality check....the current hybrid car consumes more energy from the batteries than an SUV does in consuming gas, want the pollution side as well, disposal of the hybrid batteries causes more pollution than the entire life of an SUV.

[cplai]

These are all false claims from the hybrid bashers. Back it up with more details.

[cplai]

You obviously were making up all these because your logic does not make sense. Currently the hybrid cars get ALL its energy from the gas tank. Your false claim does not hold when you fill up at the gas station.

[leon323]

do you work for toyota ? because you are trying hard to sell the youtube viewers on this car when we (automotive technicians, studying engineers, and others) know that this car is not the solution to save energy because the batteries pollut more than HC,NOx,& Co, allso they FUCKING KILL PEOPLE ! and the prius is just a steping stone for the next solution of energy.

[dard03]

Remember that you can power your car *completely* on solar energy. Many people who use solar energy in their homes have more than enough energy "left over" to power their car for the next day. You can't get closer to "free" than that!

[tadaa11]

Judging from your comment you know nothing about hybrids, batteries, or SUVs.

[moparERnoCAR]

i ha

[barakas96]

every fucking american who drives a car which achieves only 27mpg efficiency, shoud be shot on sight and his body left for jackals to eat. my diesel Peugoet 407 1.6 110bhp does 60 miles per galon and I concider it to be too high. Proud to be European.

[garbon2535]

Naw, if people want to waste their money so be it. I perfer to get the highest fuel economy I can but I don't mind sharing the road with SUV's.

[cdltpx]

I can't afford tesla I do have a prius and a scion XB. If I had an electric car that fast I would need tons of tires.

[CascaMMA]

We're considering a Prius - can you give us an idea of your experience with true gas milage and handling? Would you buy another one?

[cdltpx]

I would buy another one but there is a reason I have an xb and a prius the prius is deigned to be a daily driver that is the family car. Where we live we get 42 mpg no problem but we are too much city driving to gain the 60mpg. I recently took a trip and got 55mpg obeying the speed law strictly. It was not an interstate run. Toyota is producing a plug in prius it would be perfect for us we would never use petro. Wife 8 mile comm me a 30 mile but I go to work maybe 3 times a month hence the xb.

[cplai]

It is the most buy-again car. According to Consumer Report magazine, 94% of Prius owners said they would buy again. I am not amongst the other 6%.

Mileage varies depending on traffic condition, terrain, climate and most important of all driving habit. If you are lead-footed and slam on the brakes alot, milage will suffer. Frequent short trips hurt milage too. Milage ranges from 35 to 65 mpg depending on situations. Typical for daily 20 mile commute is around 48 mpg.

[cplai]

Actually most of the factors that hurt milage affect non-hybrid cars too. For example, in extreme cold or extreme hot climate, the heater or air conditioning burns energy and that comes from the gasline. Drivers who slam on the brake a lot transfer the car's kinetic energy to the brake pads and waste it as heat loss. The first 5 minutes of warm up wastes energy too. Air friction is proportional to the square of speed, e.g. 3X speed = 9X drag. So short trips and high speed lower milage.

[cplai]

Some enthusiasts in PA did a marathon to drive the Prius in ideal conditions. e.g. driving for 3 days in relay, i.e. one warmup cycle only for the full tank. Moderate speed at around 40mpg on rural highway that did not require stop and go, i.e. no energy loss in braking. They achieved 110mpg with a standard Prius. Since such ideal driving conditions were unrealistic, the result should be used for reference and to prove the potential as a concept only.

[cdltpx]

Our cars consume more fuel because of all the pollution control crap mandated by congress. That is't my issue I have times when I want to ride a bike but there are no bike paths. Motorists are too impatient even in a 35 they are speeding over 50 I wonder what would happen if I had an electric car they would go nuts with a max speed of 25mph. I could live with the 25 mph but need more range and electric cars can't go that far.

[cplai]

You won't go nuts with the electric Tesla Roadster. You can go from 0 mph to 110 mph in second gear. No need to shift gear unless you want to achieve 0-60mph in 4 seconds.

[dodobird116]

so in his spare time, he looks at cars passing by? hahha

[Dirtyjap23vaf]

The United States colony of japanese automobile

(toyota,honda,suzuki,kawasai,y­amaha,mithbishi,subaru,mazda,h­ino,isuzu,)

American is wildly excited to the hybrid technique of the japanese automobile is many.

It is a magnificent technique.

"The American automobile the trash,"

"As well the japanese automobile is top."

Fuck GM,FORD, UScar

[frankiej510]

lol you say fuck american automobiles? why is it in japan the japanese wants AMERICAN luxury cars (cadillac, and lincoln) and AMERICAN lowriders? anyways thats besides my point. in 10 years when the prius needs a new battery the "american trash" will still be pulling strong while that hybrid in is the shop.

[squishyxD]

i'm american and i say FUCK AMERICAN MADE CARS

yeah like i drive a 1995 SUBARU LEGACY and my friend drives a 2005 DODGE DURANGO, my 95 is wayyyy better on gas, drivinG it forever doesn't need a tune up for a looong time, while her 2005 has 80,562 miles on it and sounds like it's about to die and still it does after a tune up. mine has 176,836 and running strong. now which sounds like the better car to you?

[frankiej510]

thats stupid to compare a 4 cylinder to a 8 cylinder on gas milage. also if youre going to compare cars dont compare it to a dodge. everybody knows dodge isnt good. i had a 93 mercury cougar. i got it up to 201,000 before the transmission died. i only had to replace the head gasket but that was my fault but other than that it treated me well. anyways it was getting 27mpg on the highway. so before you go on about american cars are trash you need to do some research.

[weirdstuffanimation6]

i dont get y they dont just drive 4 generaters off the wheels so wen its moving on the electric engine its still charging the batterys

[freestyker]

this is a joke, right?

[weirdstuffanimation6]

whats a joke

[ghostjaguar]

However, I will say this, Toyota is helping to improve battery technology, and Reduce the price of that technology by manufacturing in large quantities, something that no other Automanufacture is yet to do.

[useer]

Did someone think of power bill? How much this energy cost compared to petrol? How much pollution power plants generate comparing to a petrol engine?

[ghostjaguar]

About 3x cheaper to run than comparible petrol car, and twice as efficient carbon footprint as the Toyota prius.

[poop9876543211]

prius's are hella ugly but get hella good mpg

[ghostjaguar]

poop9876543211,

hella good?

And I also want to mention that the Prius has crap milage. 35-45mpg [real life] My 1985 car does nearly 90MPG. Don't be fooled people, cars use more fuel now then they have for a long time.

I have had 3 cars that get better milage than the prius. And my parents both drive cars that get better mpg than the prius.

[cplai]

I wonder why they don't make them anymore. Perhaps they were banned by the government like the VW GTI because they stink literally. If they can clean up the emission, they will be allowed again.

[clubby30]

The Girl Is From Australia , Beyond Tomorrow A Show On Channel 7 , The Prius Is Modified So That The Batteries In The Car Can Be Charged Overnight From The Powerpoint While The Car is Asleep In The Garage

[StudentVirginiaTech]

PRIUS IS so high tech

[ghostjaguar]

StudentVirginiaTech,

Umm were you being sarcastic?

I remember an article from popular mechanics around 1985, used a system remarkably similar to the prius, Robert.Q.Riley.

[glaurung78]

I have never heard this accent before. Where is she from?

[aliencrap]

I wonder why car companies are slow to adopt more electrically powered cars? Oil companies?

[cplai]

Simple answers: Battery technology is not good enough yet. Current problems are capacity, weight and longevity. Of course don't forget about possible pollution problem in battery production.

[ghostjaguar]

Umm, wrong. sorry LiFePo, Thats Lithium Iron Polomer, Cheap to make, cheap to recycle, low weight, and 1000cycle at 100%DOD and currently availabe in 130AH @C1. at 12V.

The simple answer is GREED !

[cplai]

1000 cycles for electric car application? Are you kidding me? 1000 cycles are probably not good enough for your cell phone. Can you estimate how many times you need to replace the batteries over the lifetime of the car?

[cant7think7clearly]

I understand what Ghostjaguar is trying to say. I've seen some very impressive battery packs emerging over the last 12 months and each time they get better. A company called LionEV produce converted cars that can do 457 miles on one charge. I'd only need to charge it twice a month with my typical distances. Can you imagine that in a PHEV! :) Fantastic!

[ghostjaguar]

cplai,

1000cycles @ 100% DOD @ C1.

Cell phones don't discharge in 1 hr. nor at high current. If you new anything about batteries you would realise that these are a major breakthrough. Projected life of batteries is longer than most people keep their car. Approx 10yrs. for a city car.

[useer]

It isn't greed, but energy effectiveness and price.

[aliencrap]

Now that's a man's car.

[wilsonbh]

Cost prohibitive! The cost to make this electric modification to a Prius is as much as the original sticker price of the vehicle. That eliminates 99% of the general population and therefore is a "pie in the sky" fix to the high costs of energy. Unless the manufacturer comes onboard by mass producing these cars, the average person simply cannot afford one.

[tttthephantom]

E-Drive systems already can convert 2004 or newer Prius's to plug in for about 12K. You can find a link to their company website on EVtransPortal dot com underthe "Manufacturers and Distributors of Electric Three-wheeled vehicles, Cars, Trucks, and Buses" category of links. (That's a mouthful!) - there is a ton of information on this portal website for everything relating to electric vehicles, including plug ins.

[energyadvertiser]

Check out my solar powered prius video. 70 MPG and if you do less than 6 miles per day and 42mph you never have to buy gas or plug in again.

[DaddyDwight]

my 2001 prius with 158k miles and I still get 50mpg...

and it's not slow.. dont believe the anti hype...

Rent "who killed the electric car"from Netflix

[1Ali380]

I have heard that these cars drive reallllllllyyyyy  slow ....

[HAL11000]

Not necessarily.

[100MPG]

Sadly USA drivers ignorant of modern diesel tech. Only ONE % of USA cars run diesel. If 30% diesels then USA would use far less imported oil - in fact equivalent to all imports from Saudi Arabia! Prius is not a real world solution. Only of benefit on short trips/low speed.

[100MPG]

At anything >40 mph and a hybrid uses >fuel and pollutes >global warming gases than modern diesel. Reason? Extra weight: batteries+motors to drag around. Audi A2 1.2TDI can run biofuel but with normal diesel puts out 81g/km CO2 and 66MPG at average 91MPH on Autobahn! Normal driving A2 gets 100MPG. Prius weighs 1.3T, A2 0.9 T

[100MPG]

Toyota ordered to drop TV commercial for hybrid vehicle

· Watchdog rules that ad exaggerated car's benefits

· CO2 figures were based on American average mileage

A television commercial for the Toyota Prius breached advertising rules by exaggerating the car's environmental benefits, the advertising industry watchdog says today

[drsnk]

I think you need $40,000 worth of solar to power your home and car. It would pay for itself in 10 years the way prices are rising. After that it's all free energy for 20 years.

[drsnk]

I heard the guys comment on idling to keeo a car heated. That is no longer necessary thanks to Espar and Webasto car heaters.

[h2fcell]

The auto industry designs concept cars that can solve the high gas demand problem, but refuse to market them. We need Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Loss of revenue can make large companies, even the auto industries; change their "business model". Sure the government can help with legislation to force them to put out new technology, but the true power is in our hands. Stop buying or leasing NEW gasoline powered cars for a year. Tell everyone to wait a year. See my vids.

[greyflcn]

There's also some rather attractive fully electric cars coming out next year.

greyfalcon. net/ electriccars.png

Although Phoenix might be making a "serial hybrid" version of their SUV.

Which is essentially a fully electric car, except with an extra gasoline generator attached for some extended range.

A lot less complex than a Prius Plus since almost all the gasoline parts are removed.

[greyflcn]

Well, Lithium is nice.

Lithium Polymer is better.

greyfalcon. net/ plugins2

The 50 mile range battery mentioned is going on sale next year specifically for a conversion kit.

A123 Systems figure that if Toyota installed it in the factory, it'd only cost about 2-3 thousand more.

The battery can fit inside the spare tire well, and be installed in about 2 hours.

[Rickdeckard2020]

The Plug-in custom version is a great idea

but the way I see it, custom modification costs a great deal while if Toyota were to integrate in in factory it would cost a fraction (car makers cry each time theres a new tech, now all cars have airbags as standard, factory mass production makes option like pug-in much cheaper)

Ethanols a scam and Hydrogen's a red herring and scam, Factory-made Plug-in Hybrids are the best option

[cplai]

Sometime ago, Toyota made a statement that a breakthrough in battery technology is needed to move to plugin hybrid in large scale production. Technologically, it is doable, but it cost too much to add such high capacity battery packs in each car. Some people already think Prius is too expensive. The additional batteries will add a lot to the cost and weight. If GM say it is not ready, I'll say it is sour grapes. But if Toyota said it is not ready, I think we should wait.

[Rickdeckard2020]

"Some people already think Prius is too expensive" Yes, I agree, I wish it were less expensive and I am glad Toyota did not trow the towel saying people will say its expensive because I have a choice, they are selling as far as I know and it can improve/reduce cost by having a base on which to build

"But if Toyota said " Good point, I also have respect for Toyota :) If they were to make Plug-in as option, those that could might get it and in turn serve as base for improvment/cost reduction

[Rickdeckard2020]

'throw the towel' hum I not even sure thats an expression, maybe I should have said 'drop the ball' instead ;)

I think Plug-in option might not sell a lot (until tech improves/costs less) but could be a good PR and strategic move :)

[Rickdeckard2020]

"Sometime ago, Toyota made a statement that a breakthrough in battery technology is needed to"

How long ago was that?

I googled Toyota and Plug-in and found an article dating back to summer 2006

"Toyota moves to corner the 'plug-in' market

Reversing course, the Japanese automaker reveals it will make hybrid cars that can go even farther on electricity."

(hoping that is accurate and more recent)

[Rickdeckard2020]

oops I cant erase my previous posts,

I just went on Toyota's website and they basically stated exactly what you said (sorry)

[cplai]

I think the website info is older. Yes, I remember reading about they will do something about plug-in recently. The cost will remain an issue though the weight problem has improved. Read about the Tesla roadster currently in production. It is a pure electric sport car that goes 0-6 in 4 second and range between each charge is 250 mile. Each charge takes 3.5 hours. The price tag: $100K. With the long charging time, the Tesla can never compare to any plug in hybrid in terms of versatility.

[Rickdeckard2020]

The Tesla is great! 250 miles range! Thats more than enough for me. For that one weekend a year I might want to go beyond 300km I could rent a car. The price tag and 2 seater/non-family is the non starter factor, not the range. They are planning on a large sedan for around 50K$ and eventually a more affordable sedan. I would not hesitate to buy a civic/prius equivalent Tesla car with a 250 miles range and a 30K$ price tag if they can pull it off

[cplai]

I read from this month's issue of Popular Science that tesla is using close to 7000 off the shelf laptop computer battery to power the car. They admit it is not the best battery solution but it is the most economic at this time due to the production volume for computer. They are hoping that when the need it there someone will start to product a cheaper and more efficient battery pack design specifically for the car.

[cplai]

Of course, the tesla success will accelerate battery breakthroughs. However, when battery are light and cheap, Toyota will do plug in hybrid. Then people would buy the PHEV instead of the EV. Then Tesla will be out of business. Hopefully they won't fail before the momentum is up.

[gman5541]

The Big Three will never make plug-in hybrids,electric cars or even full hybrids. These cars would limit repair costs and use less fuel. Even the batteries are designed to work past 100,000 miles!This hurts comapnies like GM who also make money from repair and repair part revenue. CalCars should design and make their own hybrids or electric cars.

[greyflcn]

re: binhonz

--Do you guys know what FlexFuel or MultiFlex car engines? VW, Ford, GM and FIAT are using this in my home country, Brazil. VW was the first one to realease this technology wich means your car engine runs with gasoline or alcohol [biological alcohol produced down there] in any proportion of mixing! --

Even though Brazil's ethanol is 8x better than US ethanol in energy effeciency.

Brazil's ethanol is a joke.

greyfalcon. net/ brazil. png

[camboy1131]

Happy April 22 Earth day......Good Idea. I agree with Plug Idea.100 mpg. YEP THE PLUG GIVES U 100MPG.

[isthissnfree]

some problems are that most people arent willing to give up many things needed to reach higher efficiency. Look at the insight, it was and still is the most economical hybrid in ths US market yt sales were not all that good because people werent willing to sacrifice some amenities for the increased efficiency

[cplai]

A two seater is not versatile enough for most people with family. The Prius on the other hand is a good family car with 5 seats and a lot of leg room at the back.

[nezzles]

My concern is the fuel becoming stale if you don't use the engine for extended periods of time.

[binhonz]

Do you guys know what FlexFuel or MultiFlex car engines? VW, Ford, GM and FIAT are using this in my home country, Brazil. VW was the first one to realease this technology wich means your car engine runs with gasoline or alcohol [biological alcohol produced down there] in any proportion of mixing! GM has an Astra model that uses gasoline, alcohol and Gas [LPG in some english countries and GNV in Brazil]. We should be sharing this for a better place to live. Cheers!

[doubleatheman]

Come on car companies! do this now! Seriously I wouldent mind plugging my car in at night. T hink it would be actualy pretty cool.

[LOVETOYOTAS]

Toyota make the best hybird's!!!

[redbeast2]

Hibirds? Birds???? Wow...

[LOVETOYOTAS]

hahaha

[jabberwolf]

You know with companies already in Michigan that can revolutionize the Hybrid Car industry (like a123 lithium phosphate battery techonology) it makes you wonder what GM and FORD are doing!?!

USA has the ability to make an awesome car, low milage, SUV, plently of power. But we havent done it. They should fire and hire others their R&A department, that or the managers ignoring this new techonology.

[jojo808]

50 mpg is not scratching the surface of tech available to companies like honda. lets see some no-emission models .Lets see a major manufacturer{s} unveil something using NO Gas already.

[redbeast2]

You have to consider that while we have the technology to do many great things, such as run cars on hydrogen, we do not yet have the technology to do these great things economically. Prototype hydrogen cars cost about $1 million currently. As our technology advances/improves, we'll be able to mass produce these vehicles for much less money.

[jojo808]

why would i want to go to another 'pump' for hydrogen? We need to see through the BS, IMHO i would love it if i never went to a pump again in the near future. In the last 6 months all you folks have been educating yourselves on alternative energies. Only a matter of time b4 some backyard mechanic makes something affordable for every1 ,putting the hurt on these car manufacturers. hydrogen is cool but its a hyped guise I'd say.

[ManRayDali]

Honda did make a very nice 100% Battery-Powered Electric car back in the late 1990's. It was called the "EV Plus" (Google it for more info) They pulled a stunt similar to what GM did with the EV1... The Honda EVs were only available on a lease, then at the end of the lease, they would not let anyone buy the cars- Honda then took them all away and crushed these excellent cars making the B.S. excuse that hydrogen is what we really want and just wait a few years (decades) for fuel cell cars...

[kevinf26]

just watch the movie "who killed the electric car?" they talk about the EV1, EVplus, and Rav4 EV.

-KEVIN-

[pacsum]

peugeot already has a diesel hibrid thats much cleaner and makes from 80 to 90 mpg

[jan3019]

japanese are really great when it comes to technology...

[ambradfo]

If Ford Motor Company just offered this functionality as even an option on their Hybrid Escape it would both save the company and revolutionize the auto industry. Unfortunately, I don't see it ever happening.