“Conversely, the house can supply electricity to the battery packs of the vehicles via the stand in the middle of the garage.”

The plug-in capability—unlike the minor modifications to have the Prius function as an auxiliary power source—may be conceptual at this point, though. I’m trying to track down more information via the TRON team to see if the car has any actual plug-in modifications.

Mike Weindi...

Your question might be answered here:
http://www.calcars.org/calcars-faq.html

Most people that I talk to have the same question that you asked. That site should be a good starting point on the pros and cons of plug-in hybrids. If done correctly it sounds to me like the plug-in hybrid could be an political, envirnomental, and economical home run.

Mike, I'm glad you asked that.  The answer is... it depends.  It depends on the fuel the powerplant is burning, and what it's burning it in.

If you use something very efficient like the GT LM2500+ turbine, you'll need 8850 BTU of fuel per kWh of output.  A gallon of fuel oil at perhaps 145,000 BTU would yield 16.4 kWh.  Used in a plug-in Prius+ consuming 262 Wh/mile, that gallon of fuel oil would let you drive 62.5 miles.  The engine exhaust would be usable for high-temperature heating.

If you used the oil in a combined-cycle powerplant at 55% efficiency instead of the bare LM2500+'s 38.6%, you'd get 23.4 kWh out of a gallon of fuel and get an effective 89.2 MPG.  The waste heat from the plant would be mostly low-pressure steam suitable for space heating.

Burn the fuel in something lousy, and the regular Prius will get better economy.

Hey google PHEV. Univeristy of california has plug-in Priuses, also plug-in Explorer suvs. You can make one yourself at home with off the shelf parts. Utility companies will have to give a reduced rate at night. With a bigger electric motor and battery pack you can get the equivilent of 500 mpg. Decentrilized power plants that we have now are much more efficient than a car. Electricity is cheeper than gas. There wont be any additional polution as there is enough energy going to waste at night, when you'd be charging, to power all the green cars you want. Do the math there wont be extra carbon emmissions because you drive electric. Most trips in the car are short so your gas engine need not come on at all. Add an ultracapacitor and utilize all the regen and get more range. Does no one see that fuel cells are a ruse to avoid doing anything as they will never be affordable and are not sustainable as the production of hydrogen will emmit lots of new cabon emmissions and only perpetuate the increase of energy consumption.

Two sources to start with: CalCars (http://www.calcars.org) and now EDrive Systems (http://www.edrivesystems.com/)

The conversion involves some significant engineering work and it’s not packaged as a turn-key kit approach yet, although EDrive is planning to market conversion kits in 2006.

Before we really begin to dig into the issues here, I want to preface my argument by pointing out that some people need SUVs, or big trucks. Farmers in particular, who use SUVs and trucks as actual workhorses, are blameless, as are disabled individuals for whom sitting in a car causes discomfort or pain. These people are forced into using SUVs because of their jobs, or personal injuries. But these people are the minority. Most of the individuals who drive SUVs do so because they are hip, shiny and cool, and...