In March of 2011, Keith Barry, writing on the Autopia blog at Wired.com, reported that a Massachusetts-based company was retrofitting Lincoln Towncars as hybrids, pitching the upgrade to fleet owners primarily as a way of cutting fuel costs:

XL Hybrids, a startup in Somerville, Massachusetts, has created a low-cost battery-powered electric motor that installs on a Lincoln Town Car in under six hours, boosting power by 20 horsepower and reducing fuel consumption 15 to 30 percent.

Given that real-world fuel economy in a Town Car seeing hardcore urban duty is 13 or 14 mpg, the hybrid conversion can pay for itself in fuel savings within 24 months, says co-founder Justin Ashton. No word yet on the per-unit cost, but expect payback time to shorten as fuel prices rise.

Ford sold over 10,000 Town Cars last year, with many of them going to livery operators who are not only struggling with fuel costs, but mandates from customers and city governments to go green.

According to Ashton, the project was designed with fleets in mind. “Before settling on an architecture, we got real-world data from fleets,” he said. ”Due to the extreme nature of their driving, their fuel bills are astronomical.”

Though there are myriad reasons for greening a fleet of vehicles, XL pitched their technology straight at the wallet. “We want to reduce fuel consumption, but we know the only way to do that is by saving people money,” Ashton said.

Excerpted from Hybrid Town Car Conversion Cuts CO2, Costs

Now Ford is mass-producing hybrid Towncars.

We wouldn’t hazard a guess as to how much fuel and money will be saved, but we suspect we’ll be seeing a lot of fleet hybrid Towncars as fleet operators hedge their bets against fuel increases. Progress in these matters often comes in small steady increments, and this is one.

If an eighth grader can do it – albeit an exceptional eighth grader – why can’t they be mass-produced at affordable prices?

8th Grader Builds Solar-Powered Bike With GPS, iPod Dock

The base vehicle used, and the priciest part of the project, was a Switzerland-built ZEM (Zero Emission Machine) 4cycle. It’s made out of an aluminum frame

and each rider can pedal at their own pace. In fact, the 4cycle took 3rd place at the human powered vehicle world championships at Interlaken, Switzerland.

And while the ZEM 4cycle is no longer produced,  they got one from a dealer in Maryland who purchased the last 3 from the US distributor. It cost them $3,900.

“[The SOHH] has replaced our cars for errands around town, and it has grown into more than we envisioned with a lot of interest from the community,” David Dixon Sr. told Wired.com

.

And for the win, they documented the project on their website with all parts and schematics so that anyone can build one. They don’t plan to mass produce the vehicle but would love it if someone else does. Though David Sr. did express an interest in updating the bike with a lighter battery “such as lithium polymer, but no budget for it yet.”

Sources: Wired.com , The SOHH Project and Gas 2.0 . 

West Lake Hills, Texas “first community in Texas to add a hybrid vehicle to its

Police vehicle in West Lake Hills, Texas. Toyota Highland Hybrid is reportedly first hybrid police car in Texas.

police patrol fleet. Although other law enforcement agencies in Texas use hybrid vehicles for administrative purposes, the City’s new Toyota Highlander SUV will be the first police vehicle to be used on daily traffic patrols. The pilot program was initiated by the West Lake Hills City Council to reflect the city’s dedication to environmental issues.” West Lake Hills muncipal website. Link to  press release (Note: PDF file

).

: the NYPD has purchased 40 Nissan Hybrids  – 22 to be used unmarked, 18 as marked blue-and-white “RMPs” (internal terminology for “Radio Motor Patrol [vehicles]). If it takes – it’ll be significant – but we don’t have the numbers at hand. Cross-posted on Caton Avenue.

Jorge Chapa, writing in Inhabitat, reports that the Hungarian prototype for the Antro Solo, production planned for 2012, gets 150 mpg, and here’s how:

• The hybrid electric/fossil fuel engine, familiar now to most of us – which captures energy while braking, thus recharging the electric batteries;
• an exceptionally light carbon composite frame;
• solar panels on the roof which can provide power for a 15 – 25 km trip (the post doesn’t specify how long that charge takes);
• The two passenger seats (it’s a three-seater) come with bicycle pedals, which can offset the car’s energy consumption;
• So if it’s dark, the battery is exhausted, you and your passengers are exhausted, what’s the last option?

Trick question: two options – a dual-fuel petrol/ethanol engine. Sound like an easy fit for a “station car,” if there’s any light at all. TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: Antro Solo gets 150mpg at Inhabitat, in turn viaAutoFiends.

If this technology, and others like it, become competitive – whoever has developed it stands to make a lot of money – and contribute to a gradual drip-drip of oil company profits. (Today’s Times has a comment from a Saudi official, who articulated some anxiety that current price shock and anger might result in people remembering the current state of affairs, and reducing long-term demand for petroleum; we’ll try to post about this later – but – you read it here first – at least some of the Saudi leadership think’s we’re intelligent and adaptive. Flattery).

Toyota promises plugin-hybrid by 2010, according to Chuck Squatriglia on Wired’s Autopia:

It’s no secret Toyota’s been working on a plug-in hybrid to compete against the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt, but Wednesday’s announcement sets a firm deadline and makes it clear Toyota has no plans of ceding the green mantle to General Motors. It also underscores how quickly the race to build a viable mass-market electric car is heating up.

The company’s ambitious “low-carbon” agenda

includes cranking out 1 million hybrids a year and eventually offering hybrid versions of every model it sells. In the short-term, Toyota says it will produce more fuel efficient gasoline and diesel engines and push alternative fuels like cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel. It’s also pumping big money into lithium-ion batteries. With fuel prices going through the roof and auto sales going through the floor

because of it, Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe says the auto industry has no choice but to move beyond petroleum.

“Without focusing on measures to address global warming and energy issues, there can be no future for our auto business,” he told reporters in Tokyo, adding, “Our view is that oil production will peak in the near future. We need to develop power train(s) for alternative energy sources.”

Watanabe’s reference to peak oil echoes that of GM CEO Rick Wagoner, who in explaining the company’s decision to shut down four truck factories said rising fuel prices and mounting demand for efficient cars are “structural, not cyclical.” In other words, the two biggest automakers in the world realize petroleum’s days are numbered

.      

That’s not to say the wells will run dry anytime soon or the bulk of Toyota’s cars won’t rely upon internal combustion for many years to come. “People often ask us whether the vehicles of the future will be hybrid vehicles or clean diesel cars or electric vehicles,” Watanabe said. “Our answer is that it will not be one technology because energy situations vary from one market to another.”

Still, Toyota is betting heavily on batteries to increasingly augment gasoline. The world’s leading producer of hybrids — worldwide sales of the Prius recently topped 1 million

, 10 years after its introduction — wants to stay there by producing that many hybrids each year “as early in the 2010s as possible.” Looking further into the future, Watanabe says Toyota will introduce hybrid versions of every car in its line-up sometime between 2020 and 2029.

Reaching those goals will require bringing down the cost of lithium-ion batteries, which currently cost $1,000 per kilowatt hour, according to Tom Turrentine of the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC-Davis.

Plug-in Hybrid Leads Toyota’s Drive Beyond Oil.