New PG&E plug-in car can feed power to home
By Sarah Jane Tribble
Imagine a car that powers your home during a blackout. Or one that produces so much extra energy, the utility company pays you.
Stop imagining.
PG&E, joining a growing number of advocates for plug-in hybrid cars, will showcase a converted Toyota Prius at an alternative energy gathering in Sunnyvale today. The investor-owned utility, which appears to be the first in the United States to demonstrate a car that can power a home, says customers will be able to use plug-ins to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as high home-energy bills.
"If there has ever been a place to start and capture the possibilities and imagination of consumers, California is the place," said Bob Howard, PG&E vice president of gas transmission and distribution.
While sales of conventional hybrids such as the Toyota Prius that run on a combination of electric and gasoline motors have skyrocketed the past few years, major automakers have been reluctant to build mass-market plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be recharged with a home's electrical outlet. They said consumers weren't interested because the cars would be too expensive.
But as manufacturing prices have dropped and gas prices have risen, attitudes have shifted.more on this story
Imagine a car that powers your home during a blackout. Or one that produces so much extra energy, the utility company pays you.
Stop imagining.
PG&E, joining a growing number of advocates for plug-in hybrid cars, will showcase a converted Toyota Prius at an alternative energy gathering in Sunnyvale today. The investor-owned utility, which appears to be the first in the United States to demonstrate a car that can power a home, says customers will be able to use plug-ins to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as high home-energy bills.
"If there has ever been a place to start and capture the possibilities and imagination of consumers, California is the place," said Bob Howard, PG&E vice president of gas transmission and distribution.
While sales of conventional hybrids such as the Toyota Prius that run on a combination of electric and gasoline motors have skyrocketed the past few years, major automakers have been reluctant to build mass-market plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be recharged with a home's electrical outlet. They said consumers weren't interested because the cars would be too expensive.
But as manufacturing prices have dropped and gas prices have risen, attitudes have shifted.more on this story
posted by anthony m, at Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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