September 24, 2007

Silicon Valley Execs Get Behind Plug-In Hybrids

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

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.

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Join the Discussion

Get EL Daily in your inbox, subscribe to free newsletter

Recent Daily News [ see all ]

  • 11/06/2009
  • 11/05/2009
  • 11/04/2009

Industry Voices [ see all ]

Greening the Automotive Supply Chain

Greening the Automotive Supply Chain

A Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Partnership

A Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Partnership

Forest Carbon Core to Climate Change Deal

Forest Carbon Core to Climate Change Deal

ARPA-E Deserves Support

ARPA-E Deserves Support

VCS and CarbonFix Tops in Review of Forestry Carbon Standards

VCS and CarbonFix Tops in Review of Forestry Carbon Standards