Grayematter

KTVB is reporting (through the AP) that the Maui Mayor is testing a new hybrid vehicle modification from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).  Supposedly the car is a modified Toyota Prius that includes an extra battery that can be recharged from a standard electrical outlet.  The story reports that the mayor reported getting around 1,175 miles on $87, $47 for gas and $40 for electricity.

Now I’m all for being green and trying to do some part to limit mankind’s impact on the environment, but my Nissan Altima gets about the same mileage for around the same cost.  So not only are you not saving any money by doing this you are also really just shifting the burden of fuel from one limited source to another.  Depending on the source electricity is no better of a solution than gas.  If the electricity is created from a coal power plant for example then are you really making any progress?  Arguably some sources of electricity are better than others, but the problem still remains.

I think more time and resources need to be spent into looking at completely alternative resources and improving effieciency.  Hydrogen would be a good example, but even then you have to pay attention to the environmental costs of actually manufacturing the parts of a hydrogen car. Automotive plants don’t exactly run on Mr. Fusion.