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Jul 5, 2008 3:25 pm US/Eastern
Professor Invents Hybrid Conversion Kit
DAVIS, Calif. (CBS) ―
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U.C. Davis engineering professor Andy Frank has been working on the technology to convert everyday cars into vehicles that can go dozens of miles before using a single drop of gasoline.
CBS
The national average for a gallon of unleaded stands at $4.10, the cost in California is $4.56, and in Sacramento its $4.47.
What if your dollar could go six times farther in your car?
U.C. Davis engineering professor Andy Frank has been working on the technology to convert everyday cars into vehicles that can go dozens of miles before using a single drop of gasoline. Frank started this work nearly 30 years before gas prices ever reached the $4 mark.
So, how do you power up?
"You plug in, that's it," says Frank.
Professor Frank says consumers might be able to get the kits within the next year by driving into a conversion center.
Frank hopes to mass produce the kits. He says they will cost around $10,000. With gas around $4.50 a gallon, it would take consumers an average of between three and four years to recoup that cost. But the higher gas goes, the shorter that recoup becomes.
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