Plug-In Supply has just released its new $4995 kit which converts your 2004-2008 Prius into a Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle (PHEV). Because the system is based on the Cal Cars reference design and uses lead-acid batteries as opposed to the more expensive lithium or nickel-based batteries, this new kit is cheaper than many other PHEV conversion options. According to Plug-In Supply, the kit will allow your Prius to operate in electric-only mode for up to fifteen miles and at speeds of up to fifty-two miles per hour. Getting 15 miles out of a lead acid pack will be a real stretch given that Toyota is only getting eight with a NiMH pack in its prototype PHEV Priuses. Getting a Prius up to 52 mph on batteries will also take a long time with the size of the electric motor used and all of this will absolutely, possitively void any warranty you may have left. The lead-acid batteries which help make this new kit relatively affordable aren’t likely to last the life of the vehicle. Therefore, the pack has been designed to be upgradeable to lithium batteries in the future. Due to the 360-pound weight of the included battery pack, heavy-duty springs have also been made available for the rear of the Prius.

While it still may not make sound economic sense, this kit proves that the costs associated with creating PHEVs is going down. Those living in California, though, might be hard-pressed to purchase a kit such as this if CARB passes its new regulations, as kits using lead-acid batteries may find it rather difficult to meet some of the proposed requirements.

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By the middle of the next decade Mercedes-Benz wants its entire lineup to be able to operate entirely free of petroleum. The German giant is working on a variety of technologies that will help provide crude oil free transport such as battery electrics, fuel cells and highly efficient internal combustion engines that can operate on biofuels. Mercedes has recently been letting European journalists sample some of these new powertrains at a test facility in Spain.

The F700 concept that debuted last fall in Frankfurt is powered by a turbocharged DiesOtto engine. The DiesOtto is Mercedes’ branding for a combined HCCI and spark ignition engine that provides nearly the same efficiency as a diesel without the need for the expensive after-treatment systems. This and conventional diesel engines can run on biofuels and Mercedes hopes to launch the DiesOtto in production by 2010. Mercedes is also currently field testing electrically-driven vehicles with both batteries alone and fuel cells each of which they also plan to launch at the beginning of the decade. While it may well be that all Mercedes models in 2015 will be capable of running petroleum free, the reality is that many - if not most - will still be using fossil fuels much of the time. That may come in the form of coal for electricity, natural gas reformed into hydrogen, or petroleum fuels blended with biofuels. But you have to start somewhere.

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