San Fransisco Mayor Urges Increased Hybrid Prouction
San Fransisco May Gavin Newsom is continuing in his quest to make the city one of the most environmentally friendly in the United States. He asked asked Bay Are city leaders to to join him in encourage car manufacturers to manufacture plug in hybrids in greater numbers.
Mayor Newsom held a press conference in an auto repair shop in southeast San Fransisco. The shop specializes in converting standard hybrid cars to plug in hybrids. In the press conference Newsom said he would contact other mayors in the area by mail and asked them to join in him in his pledge to buy a new plug in hybrid id the auto manufacturers will produce them.
Newsom said that if the auto makers responded to his challenge, he and the city of San Fransisco would purchase the new plug in hybrids to replace the existing cars in the San Fransisco city fleet. “We Want to create our own market for these cars,” Newsom said.
Pat’s Garage, the location of Mayor Newsom’s press conference, had three hybrids that had been converted on diplay for the public and members of the press that attended the conference as a backdrop for Newsom’s speech. Newsom also pledged to continue to press the issue in June at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
In contrast with an ordinary hybrid, a plug in hybrid has been modified by adding a longer life lithium ion battery in addtion to the car’s existing standard battery. The modified plug in hybrids are able to go a great distance farther using electric power than a standard hybrid now produced. The only thing a plug in hybrid owner does to recharge his vehicle is plug the car’s battery into a standard electrical outlet. Each charge costs an estimated $1 in electricity.
The National Resources Defense Council conducted a study in July that said greenhouse gases and Unite States oil consumption would plummet if plug in hybrid technology became the industry standard by 2050.
It appears that full production of plug in hybrids may be many years in the future, because of industry concerns about the possibility of lithium ion batteries overheating and causing cars to catch on fire. There is also some question about the life span if lithium ion batteries and whether they can last fr the life of the car.
Toyota officials, home of the hybrid Prius car, have stated that the car maker is looking to the possibility of making hybrid conversions available in addition to standard hybrids. Other car makers make the same claim.
The owner of Pat’s Garage, Pat Cadam, has recently opened Green Gears, an expansion of his current auto shop. About 35 hybrid cars have been converted to plug in hybrids at the new shop Cadam says. Cadam believes that until the big car makers begin to make plug in hybrids widely available, there will be a large demand for his services. It costs about $20,000 for a mechanic at Cadam’s shop to add a 145 pound lithium ion battery to hybrid. The pay off for the expensive modification is gas mileage to the tune 150 mpg.
