http://www.jeffwoelker.com/2007/06/21/google-gets-into-electric-cars-who-needs-a-hundred-year-head-start/ Jeff Woelker's Home for Search Marketing, Social Media, Chicago, and Life on the North Side Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:36:23 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 http://www.jeffwoelker.com/2007/06/21/google-gets-into-electric-cars-who-needs-a-hundred-year-head-start/comment-page-1/#comment-383 Beaugrand Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:03:18 +0000 http://www.jeffwoelker.com/2007/06/21/google-gets-into-electric-cars-who-needs-a-hundred-year-head-start/#comment-383 Converted hybrids are great if you can afford the $20,000 purchase price for the new hybrid car, and the approximately $10,000 for the plug-in conversion. How about somebody comes up with a conversion kit for non-hybrid cars? I have two front-wheel drive cars; it seems to me it wouldn't be all that hard to add an electric motor to the rear axle and install a battery pack in some spaces that are under-utilized, such as under the seats and in the trunk ahead of the axle (okay, that reduces my available trunk space, but I seldom- that is, never- fill the trunk all the way anyway). This is an even "greener" approach, because it recycles an existing vehicle that would otherwise be replaced with a new one, with all the environmental impact of manufacturing. Keep the conversion price under $5000 and you'd sell a bunch of these. Converted hybrids are great if you can afford the $20,000 purchase price for the new hybrid car, and the approximately $10,000 for the plug-in conversion.
How about somebody comes up with a conversion kit for non-hybrid cars? I have two front-wheel drive cars; it seems to me it wouldn’t be all that hard to add an electric motor to the rear axle and install a battery pack in some spaces that are under-utilized, such as under the seats and in the trunk ahead of the axle (okay, that reduces my available trunk space, but I seldom- that is, never- fill the trunk all the way anyway).
This is an even “greener” approach, because it recycles an existing vehicle that would otherwise be replaced with a new one, with all the environmental impact of manufacturing. Keep the conversion price under $5000 and you’d sell a bunch of these.

]]>