By Clayton B. Cornell •
September 14, 2009
If you live in Colorado and own a Prius, here’s a New Year’s Day gift for you: $6,000 off a plug-in hybrid conversion.
Earlier this year, Colorado passed House Bill 1331, “Incentives for Efficient Motor Vehicles,” which creates new tax credits of up to $6,000 for the purchase of, or conversion to, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
Background: plug-in hybrid and electric car retrofits.
The new credit will be a substantial discount off the average price of a plug-in conversion, which generally run around $10-14,000. On top of the Federal Tax Credit of 10% (up to $4,000), plug-in retrofits could start to make a lot of sense for some car owners.
By Steve Schaefer •
August 10, 2009
“Take a used 2004-2009 Prius—maybe your own—and add the [Plug-in Conversions] kit,” says Carolyn. “For less than $30,000 you’ll have a car that’s better than the new 2010 Prius.”
Editor’s Note: If you’re interested in converting your own car or a buying a plug-in conversion through group discounts, you can join this email list for electric cars.
Luscious Garage works exclusively on hybrids. Founded in 2007, it sits amidst early-20th-century storefronts in a quiet, tree-lined section of downtown San Francisco. Outside, a tire hangs high with a plant inside it—just a hint of what’s within.
The ground-level work area is unlike any you’ve seen before. The left wall is filled with colorful artwork. Then, you notice there’s no smell of oil or gas—and no pounding of compressors.
By Felix Kramer •
August 10, 2009
Entrepreneurs have begun to retrofit ordinary combustion vehicles into all-electrics or plug-in hybrids. Here’s why this could be the “big fix” that the auto-industry needs.
Are we stuck with our oil addiction? What if millions of our middle-aged vehicles could be reincarnated as superior versions of their youthful selves, while developing new revenue streams for Detroit? What if that “fix” could start reducing the billion a day we spend on imported oil, while creating tens of thousands of local jobs in communities and cutting greenhouse gases from fossil fuels?
Automakers could do all this—by thinking of vehicles as upgradable high-tech products. For example: A pioneering Chicago startup makes a prototype Ford F-150 pickup with an all-electric range of 30 miles per charge. After that it’s a hybrid, boosting the best-selling truck’s 15 city miles per gallon to 21.
Over the holiday weekend, Japanese news daily Nikkei reported that Toyota will start mass producing plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012.
The plug-in Prius will have a reported all-electric range of 12.4-18.6 miles after a full charge, and will cost $48,000—roughly twice the price of the regular gasoline-hybrid Prius.
Considering that a used Prius can be converted into a plug-in hybrid today for less than $15,000—giving the car the same or better statistics and driving range—I’d have to ask: what the hell is Toyota thinking?
