San Francisco to take delivery of three plug-in Priuses

Later today, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to take delivery of three newly-converted plug-in Toyota Priuses. The cars will be used by the city and county for official business. The conversions were done by the crew at Pat's Garage in San Francisco using a kit from Hymotion. Hymotion was bought last year by lithium ion cell supplier A123 Systems. Hymotion claims their system can provide 30 miles of electric range for a Prius although the car's powertrain hasn't been modified. Getting that much range without the engine starting will require an extremely light foot on the throttle. Sometime this year, Hymotion plans to start offering their conversion kit to consumers.

[Sources: GreenCarCongress, GreenGears]