CORTE MADERA, Calif. (AP) --
Politicians and automakers say a car that can both reduce greenhouse gases and
free America from its reliance on foreign oil is years or even decades away.
Ron Gremban says such a car is parked in his garage.
looks
like a typical Toyota Prius hybrid, but in the trunk sits an
80-miles-per-gallon secret -- a stack of 18 brick-sized batteries that boosts
the car's high mileage with an extra electrical charge so it can burn even less
fuel.
“Plug-in” hybrids
aren't yet cost-efficient, but some of the dozen known experimental models have gotten up to 250 mpg.
The extra batteries let Gremban drive for 20 miles with a 50-50 mix of gas and
electricity. Even after the car runs out of power from the batteries and
switches to the standard hybrid
mode, it gets the typical Prius fuel efficiency of
around 45 mpg. As long as Gremban doesn't drive too
far in a day, he says, he gets 80 mpg.
“The average for people's usage of a car is somewhere around 30 to 40
miles per day.
clipped from: www.livescience.com 
