Advocate: Plug-INS Can Get 100 Miles a Gallon

You know how you plug your cell phone into its charger when you get home?

Jim Poch wants you to do the same thing with your car.

Poch is the head of the Plugin Hybrid Coalition of the Carolinas, a nonprofit agency based in Charleston, S.C., that’s working to promote the manufacture of gas/electric hybrid cars that can be charged up using a household electrical socket.

Plug-in cars could cut at least a gallon a day from the amount of gas used by current- generation hybrids and cut nearly three gallons a day from the amount of gas used by a conventional vehicle. The fuel savings of a plug-in car would come with a cost of about a dollar a day, according to Progress Energy.

"The consensus of experts is that the price of gasoline is not going down, and global warming has to be dealt with," Poch said. "The writing on the wall is that the long-term future of transportation has to have electricity in it."

He has been driving the proof of his passion — a modified Toyota Prius — around North Carolina and South Carolina to promote plug-in hybrids. He visited Winston-Salem on Tuesday.

Fitted with a bigger battery than other hybrids, the prototype gets as much as 100 miles a gallon. That’s more than twice as much as the current Prius hybrids get on the road.

Such electrical-power providers as Duke Energy, Progress Energy and South Carolina Electric and Gas all support Poch’s group with grants of as much as $30,000 each, he said.

Hybrid cars on the road now use an electric motor that’s powered by a battery, which is in turned charged by the car’s alternator or brakes to supplement a gas-powered engine.

The battery in Poch’s car has a bigger capacity than other hybrids, which makes the plug-in car more efficient on trips of less than 25 miles. At least half of most driver’s trips are less than 25 miles, Poch said. And plugging in the battery to recharge ensures that it is at full charge at the start of every trip.

However, Jim Warren, an environmental activist and longtime critic of both Duke Energy and Progress Energy, is skeptical. Warren is the executive director of the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network in Durham.

Warren said that using electricity from the power grid for vehicles is simply trading one problem for another because most of the state’s electricity is produced from burning coal or nuclear fission. Raising the demand on the power grid would give utilities more justification to build more plants.

"This seems like a distraction to me," Warren said. "What we really need to do is cut back on driving while making cars more efficient overall."

Poch said that he saw no reason why several different approaches couldn’t be pursued, including driving less. He also said that there is ample off-peak capacity in the electrical grid to power the widespread use of plug-in hybrids.

But the potential for getting enough hybrid cars on the road to make a difference is uncertain because mass production is years away. The car’s cost could be another major obstacle.

Adding the special battery to his Toyota Prius added about $10,500 to the car’s initial $23,000 price tag, Poch said. Poch said that with tax credits and more development, the extra cost could be cut to about $3,000, which is a premium that could be offset by lower fuel costs over the life of the car.

Alex Huang is an electrical-engineering professor at N.C. State University who is working to make large-capacity batteries for hybrids and electric vehicles lighter and less costly. He believes that using more electricity for transportation holds major promise.

Huang said that the delivery of electricity to consumers is cleaner and more efficient than relying on oil for power because oil has to be pumped, shipped and processed. The production of electricity, he said, has the potential to be even cleaner than it is now.

"There are many ways to generate electricity with less environmental impact," Huang said. "If we’re really serious about climate change, we have to move in this direction."