Driving Change

A great article in the Why Files looks at how plug-in hybrid cars -- that is, hybrid gas-electric cars that run primarily on electric power (as opposed to conventional hybrids, which run primarily on gas) and which are routinely plugged into the power grid to recharge -- could radically transform the energy mix in coming decades. How so? Well, you should read the whole story, but in a nutshell, all those cars, each one equipped with hefty battery capacity, would represent a massive amount of cheap energy storage -- currently a limiting factor for the wider adoption of intermittent energy sources like wind and solar.

So, not only do plug-ins represent a greater cut in fuel consumption and carbon output than their cousins, but, in what is called the vehicle-to-grid scenario, they could eventually send power back to the grid, potentially eliminating the need for back-up generators. Better still, says Andrew Frank, director of the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Center at the University of California at Davis, you could install solar panels on your home and run the car off those. The gas station and the power grid would then merely serve as backups. Says Frank: "If you buy a plug-in hybrid and a solar panel, with today's cost of gasoline, you could pay off the solar panel in three to four years, and that means for the next 25 years, you get to drive your car for free."

A final note: You can't currently purchase a plug-in hybrid off the lot, but if you're handy you can hack your Prius and make it into a plug-in. Two caveats there: 1) The conversion ain't cheap, and 2) it voids your warranty. So, for now, we'll have to sit tight and dream of the day (hopefully not far off) when our cars come with power cords and a gas tank.