The Mayor Plugs In

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Posted October 30, 2007 with 83 reads

Keywords: automobiles, hybrid electrics, plug-in, transportation

Photo Source: City of Minneapolis

“Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak may be the first mayor in the nation to drive a plug-in hybrid vehicle as his official city car.” Rybak told the Minnesota Daily:

It became clear to me that the two big things we had to do were convert to plug-in hybrids and find a way to have them use electricity from non-coal sources … I become very frustrated with people saying we need to do years of research on all these issues. Research is great, but the technology is there right now.

Although Toyota now is testing a plug-in hybrid, at present* the only way one can obtain a plug-in hybrid in the United States is by converting a HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle). Most often the donor car, i.e., the object of conversion, is a Toyota Prius.

*Note: This is a generalization. With sufficient resources, other approaches are available. Converting a Prius is considered the most practical way at present.

Hymotion secured a contract with NYSERDA to convert 50 HEVs to PHEVs.

There are more and more choices of plug-in conversion kits. For instance, the Hymotion kit with BREMs (Battery Range Extender Modules), creates a plug-in hybrid; and, PHEV30 certainly is possible with A123Systems high-power, nanophosphate, lithium-ion batteries.

Hymotion, now a A123Systems subsidiary, wants to continue to offer such conversion kits. Rick Bazzarella has expressed the hope that by early 2008 Hymotion will offer kits for converting hybrid electric vehicles to plug-in hybrids. At least, one utility already seeks customers for the kit.

A plug-in, flex-fuel hybrid is a real here-and-now solution to oil dependence, air quality, and climate change.

Maria Surma Manka tells us that “since he was first elected in 2002, Mayor Rybak’s official car has been a Toyota Prius.” But, he switched to something with dramatically superior gas mileage.

Mayor Rybak now plugs in. His Prius was converted to a plug-in hybrid vehicle. “He expects to get about 70 miles per gallon (mpg) compared to his average 40 mpg with the Prius.” Depending on driving profile, particularly how much is stop and go driving, a Prius converted to plug-in hybrid, even with an adequate amount of NiMH batteries, can achieve an effective mileage of over 100 mpg.

Mayor Rybak’s car is PHEV30, which means it can travel about 30 miles solely on battery power, “if the speeds are 30 mph or less,” clarifies Manka.

If he drives further or needs to go faster, the car automatically switches over to using the gas engine. But for local city driving — when speeds are low and distances are shorter — he could go days without using any gasoline to power the engine.

Asahi.com Illustration

With governments and NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) in the most populated states in the United States indicating a financial interest in plug-in hybrids, it is more than coincidence that Toyota anticipates that the initial market for a Toyota plug-in hybrid would be government offices. Partially, stimulated by a proposed closing of a Ford plant in Mankato, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to pass legislation guiding state purchase of plug-in hybrids “on a preferred basis when they become available.”

Although Minnesotans use more biofuels (E10, E85 and biodiesel) per capita than any other state and the City of Minneapolis has “about 100 government vehicles that are either hybrids or use E-85 fuel (an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend),” there was no indication in the Green Options post whether the Mayor’s wheels* is a flex-fuel, plug-in hybrid as advocated by Plug-in Partners. On the other hand, state government is encouraging development at Minnesota State University - Mankato of flex-fuel plug-in hybrid vehicles and Green Options suggests that city leadership, in conjunction with supportive government policies, “could make plug-in hybrids a more common occurrence on Twin Cities roads.”

*Note: Generally, it can be a relatively simple matter to convert a vehicle over to flex-fuel capability. However, the internal combustion engine in the Toyota Prius operates on an Atkinson cycle, so there may be complications.

Although most of Minnesota’s electricity comes from coal power, powering a vehicle with the electric grid is still cleaner than gasoline. But the Mayor and other city officials want to make it even cleaner: Minneapolis has applied for a state grant to install solar panels on some city buildings so that future plug-in cars could charge up using solar power instead of fossil fuels.

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