Environmental and Energy Study Institute

Environmental and Energy Study Institute
From the EESI comes this article, "House Science Republicans Propose Plug-In Hybrid Legislation." Click the link above to go to the article.
Austin Energy, in the great city of Austin, TX, started this program in association with EESI and others. Their goal is to get 50 cities in the US to commit to purchasing a fleet of Flexible Fuel Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) to spur demand from the automakers. The automakers say there is no market, Austin Energy and "almost a dozen cities, over 100 public power utilities, businesses and a host of national policy groups..." think otherwise. And apparently, so do House Science Republicans.
A PHEV is simply a hybrid car, like a Prius, with a larger battery pack that can be plugged in overnight. The initial 40-60 miles would be powered by the electric motor and battery, at which point the gas engine would kick in, operating as a regular hybrid motor. With the Flexible Fuel option, the gas motor can run on a blend of ethanol and gasoline up to 85%, or E85. The advantages are many, including low emissions, cheaper overnight electric rates (when wind power is plentiful), and reduced dependence on foriegn oil. It certainly seems like the best of both worlds. To learn more, go to www.plugingpartners.org .