Capitol Hill event raises its profile; critic says 33 mpg is closer to reality

"Raser says its prototype can go 40 miles in all-electric mode before requiring a boost. At that point, a driver can either stop and plug it in, or allow a small gasoline engine to kick in to recharge the lithium-ion batteries.

As for price, Raser spokesman Richard Stern said it should be around $55,000 when mass produced, or about 20 to 30 percent more than a gasoline H3. And the technology is not limited to Hummers, Stern added, noting that any SUV or pickup truck line could be easily converted."

"First, 33 mpg is what a driver would get on an extended trip where the entire gas tank is used before plugging in for a recharge, he said.

Second, electric vehicles should take into account the energy — usually coal or natural gas — used to produce the electricity in the first place, Schiller contended."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30845961/
Linked from http://hotair.com/

I love how they argue against it by saying if you used up all the gasoline in the tank then it only gets
33 mpg- and it's friggin Hummer.
And I suppose if one is given an option of another fuel tank the MPG would lower further.
Meanwhile, most American don't drive much more than 12,000 miles a year and if drive 40 miles a day or recharge more often like twice a day- then 365 day at 40 miles per day gives 14600 miles a year.
If you need to go more than 40 miles you then need to use the charging motor- and one could go forever with gas fill ups. So the thing could drive across the country at a mad dash- but not at good gas mileage. But if you drive less than 40 miles before recharge- it's all electric- no gasoline is used- zero CO2 emission. You could a situation where every 6 months or so you run motor just so the gas doesn't get stale.

Anyways the company is going work with auto companies to also put the power train in other SUVs, and the company also has system of using Geo thermal energy- which is claimed is at a price equal to natural gas costs. See video.