By early next year, 100 Silicon Valley executives will be driving plug-in hybrids, The mercury news reports. That will more than double the number of plug-ins on North American roads.
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s chief executive, Carl Guardino, is organizing the plug-in push.
Clean & Green, the group’s 11th annual projections report, due to be released today according to the Mercury news, suggests that if three percent of light-duty vehicles were replaced locally by plug-ins, about 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide would be eliminated each day. The report will be the centerpiece of a public event this week when business leaders join with elected officials Wednesday morning at Santa Clara University.
The vehicles, most likely converted Toyota Prius models, have bigger batteries and add a plug, which makes them able to run solely on electricity for much greater distances than a traditional hybrid. While the U.S. is behind in battery development, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group will work with one of two U.S. companies - A123Systems of Massachusetts or Valence Technology of Texas and their local affiliates - to get the hybrid conversions done. The companies eventually plan to try to sell these batteries to automakers.
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