012008 News

Return to Regular Article

Published on Sunday, January 20, 2008

Coalition plugs electric car goals

Don Worthington

The buzz at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last week was plug-in electric automobiles.

General Motors said it was “inevitable” that electric cars will replace petroleum-powered vehicles. Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep talked about electric concept cars.

Last Tuesday, James Poch stopped in Fayetteville on his way home to Charleston, S.C. He drove around downtown in a Toyota Prius in typical stop-and-go traffic. Most of the time, the car was powered by electricity.

It’s not a standard Prius. Poch, who is executive director of the Plug-in Hybrid Coalition of the Carolinas, drives a Prius with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. There is a standard electrical receptacle just above the license plate. An extension cord is in the back seat.

Toyota has a concept plug-in car based on the Prius that takes about four hours to charge with a range of seven miles. Poch’s Prius has a range of about 30 miles. It takes about five hours to charge. He estimates the per-night cost is about 40 cents.

The Plug-in Hybrid Coalition of the Carolinas is a nonprofit organization with funding from major utility companies. His group is part of a national coalition.

Poch said he likes to drive fast on interstates. On highways his Prius is a conventional gas-powered car. But in town Poch drives with a feather touch, using the pedal to maintain momentum.

He estimates drivers who use plug-ins almost exclusively for in-town driving would need to buy gas once a month, not once a week.

You can’t buy Poch’s Prius. It was a special conversion. The sticker price for a regular Prius starts at $21,000. The lithium-ion battery conversion cost about another $20,000. Poch said the battery price should come down if there was more demand.

Poch’s goal is not to spark more conversions. Rather, he wants automakers to fulfill a promise to make hybrids part of the regular market, not just a niche.

The automakers’ target to have plug-in cars at dealers is 2010. That may be optimistic. And, unfortunately, too many of the concepts shown in Detroit remain just that — concepts.

Poch is looking for support. To sign a petition to send to automakers, go to http://plugincarolina.org.

Have a tip for Biz Buzz? Contact Business editor Don Worthington at worthingtond@fayobserver.com or 486-3511.