Plug in and go

Manly Daily
Saturday 21/6/2008 Page: 7

AUSTRALIA'S first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle was unveiled by University of Technology Sydney and the green development company Szencorp. The converted Toyota Prius can be charged directly from a household power point and runs on electricity alone for up to 30km. The Prius was fitted with extra batteries for greater storage and a power socket so it could be charged directly from the power grid.

Researchers say it represents the next major technological change and follows close on the heels of Toyota's news that it will soon begin production of hybrid cars in Australia. Using electricity to power the car costs as little as a quarter of the price of petrol-powered motoring. The university's Institute for Sustainable Futures project - Plug-in power... the converted Prius.

Director Chris Dunstan said the model could offer not only much lower fuel bills but also the flexibility of storing wind power and solar energy at times of excess generation supply and feeding the stored energy back to the grid at times of high demand. "Plug-in hybrid cars have the potential to revolutionise not only how we drive but how we generate and use electricity in our homes and workplaces," Mr Dunstan said.

"This car heralds a not-too-distant future where householders will charge up their cars from solar panels on their roof and then pump surplus power from their car back into the grid on days of high peak power demand." If charged using renewable energy, it can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as it can run on electricity for more than 30km, the average daily commute of many Australian motorists.

For longer trips, it simply switches back to normal hybrid operation. Mr Dunstan said the conversion was commissioned by Szencorp and undertaken by the university's Institute for Sustainable Futures and Faculty of Engineering with help from Sydney technology entrepreneur Stan Baker.

This project illustrates how the research skills in Australia's universities can be used in partnership with industry and government in grappling with the challenges of sustainable power and transport," he said. In continuing research into these models, the Institute for Sustainable Futures and the UTS faculty of engineering will be collaborating with a major Australian electricity utility on integrating plug in vehicles into the electricity grid."