for our trip to DC later today--we're getting
close, helped by the 100% match offer. If you
haven't contributed yet, go to
also be updating the map. Meanwhile, here's a
report I prepared for a reporter, followed by an
editorial for Americans for Energy Independence
that covers some of the same ground. We emphasize
that PHEVs offer "the environmental features" of
lower gasoline use and lower CO2 emissions; here
are the economics from which you can figure out
the payback to the individual driver. (Of course,
each person's driving patterns and fuel costs vary.)
May 11 report: 51 miles, mostly on highways at
50-65 mph, driving about 4 miles uphill to I-280
for 10 miles, back at congested highways speeds
on US-101, and later in the day another 20 miles on US101.
A half mile from home this afternoon, my
batteries were depleted. I drove 50.8 miles in
full or partial-electric mode, averaging 124.1
MPG plus 123 watt-hours/mile of electricity.
Here's the math, assuming $3 gasoline and the
national average electric rate of 8.5
cents/kiloWatt hour. (Off-peak can be 5 cents,
Texas windpower and Washington hydropower could be 2 cents):
Gasoline: 50.8/124.1 = 0.40935 gallons = $1.23
Electricity: 50.8 X 0.123= 6.24 kwh = $0.53
TOTAL = $1.76
What would that same 50.8 miles have cost in other cars?
In my old (unconverted) 48 MPG Prius, 1.0583 gallons = $3.175
In a 25 MPG non-hybrid, 2.032 gallons = $6.10
That's the dollars. As for the petroleum
displacement, note that I used 39% of the gas I'd
have used in a hybrid and 20% of the gas I'd have
used in a standard passenger car.
http://www.ei2025.org/current_editorial.asp
Our guest editorial at Americans for Energy
Independence (co-sponsor of our BETTAH animation)
A Real Life 100+ MPG Car
May 12, 2006
I've just finished a full afternoon running
errands around the San Francisco Bay Area. It was
a mostly ordinary day: I drove 42.9 miles,
putting me right in-line with the 75% of
Americans who drive 40 miles or less daily (50%
drive less than 25). I spent about half my time
on the highway, the other half making short trips
in town. And I did it all in my 2004 Toyota
Prius, like a good percentage of my fellow Bay Area drivers.
Oh, and one more thing: I got 137.8 miles per gallon.
I drive a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). A PHEV is much
like a regular gas-electric hybrid, only with
larger batteries and the ability to recharge from
a household outlet. My car, one of only ten
plug-in Priuses in the world, fills up from an
extension cord every night in my garage.
I don't have to plug it in. If I don't my car
behaves just like a standard hybrid, using its
gas engine and regenerative braking to constantly
recharge the battery. But why wouldn't I plug in?
In nine seconds (that's the amount of time it
takes me to connect the extension cord to my
bumper each night) I can fuel my driving with
cleaner, domestic electricity. In nine seconds I
get 30 miles of all-electric range every day. In
nine seconds I save more than $2 a gallon:
The average national electricity rate is 8.5
cents/kilowatt-hour. My plug-in Prius' capacity
of 9kWhr gives me 30 miles of all-electric range.
That's 30 miles for $0.77. If you compare this to
the standard vehicle average of 25MPG, a plug-in
fills up with electricity for 64 cents a gallon.
Compared even to a standard Prius' 48MPG it costs
just $1.23 a gallon. I haven’t factored in that
some areas of the country have off-peak
(overnight) rates as low as 4-5 cents per
kilowatt-hour, so if you live in one of these
areas, I’ll leave that math to you.
I like and promote plug-in hybrids not just for
the economic gains. PHEVs also tackle:
1. Global warming: Over 12,000 annual miles,
here’s the average vehicle CO2 output: (note that
the PHEV numbers are “well-to-wheel,” meaning CO2
from electrical generation is included)
Standard car: 12,000 pounds CO2
Stock Prius: 6,000 pounds CO2
PHEV Prius: 2,000 pounds CO2
These numbers are based on the California grid.
Nationally, despite the electric grid being
half-coal, the PHEV number is 3,900 pounds, but
will only improve as the grid gets cleaner.
2. Jobs: Car makers can make money selling better
cars. After-market companies can convert existing
hybrids. Also, communities that are so polluted
they can't attract (or aren't allowed to build
facilities for new businesses) can start reducing dangerous emissions.
3. Oil dependency: I can’t remember the last time
I visited a gas station. Over my 42.9 miles today
(in which I burned less than a third of a gallon
of gas), I used 18% of the gasoline of a normal car and 34% of a stock Prius.
As pointed out in last month’s editorial by
Professor Kammen and in the UC Berkeley study,
Towards Energy Independence by 2025, plug-in
hybrids are a gateway technology to an
oil-independent America. You may ask – where does
ethanol fit in? Even plug-in hybrids need a fuel
source for extended range driving and ethanol can
play an important part in reducing our gasoline
consumption even further. But is America capable
of producing 140 billion gallons of ethanol a
year—the amount of gasoline our cars currently
use? The short answer is “no.” A study released
last year by the Department of Energy and
Department of Agriculture stated that a 30%
replacement with ethanol would be doable, but a
considerable challenge. But we may never need to hit the 30% mark…
Plug-in hybrids are ready today. The technology
is here. The batteries are ready. Our domestic
power grid can accommodate off-peak charging for
tens of millions of PHEVs. And when combined with
biofuels, plug-in hybrids can achieve 500MPG of
gasoline, effectively eliminating our need for
foreign oil. By using ethanol primarily as the
"range-extension" fuel (when you need to drive
beyond the typical 30-40 miles a day), we can cut
our gasoline production needs by 70%. Meanwhile,
the electric grid keeps on getting cleaner and
cleaner, and we approach completely carbon-free transportation.
Converting my Prius cost $12,000; it was done
after-market, by hand, without the benefits of
mass production. Current figures estimate that
production PHEVs would cost just $2,000-3,000
more than a conventional hybrid. With government
and other incentives they could cost even less.
What’s left? An automaker to fire up the
production lines for this “car of the future”—today.
To see a short, humorous animation on the value
of plug-in hybrids, visit www.Bettah.com. By
signing the Petition at the end of the animation,
your voice will be added to the thousands who
support our pursuing a “bettah way” - starting today.
Felix Kramer is the founder of the California
Cars Initiative (CalCars.org), a non-profit group
of entrepreneurs, engineers, environmentalists
and citizens promoting plug-in hybrid cars.
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