Customers with deep pockets are paying big bucks to a Boulder company for making already "green" cars even greener.
"You can plug it in and have electric fuel," explains Ammon Balaster, Chief Operating Officer of HybridsPlus.
He works for a company that converts Ford Escape Hybrids into Plug-in Hybrids.
The re-worked compact SUV doubles the gas mileage of the factory built model.
A Plug-in will average 64 miles per gallon or better, up from 32 mpg on the original version.
"It all starts with a lithium ion cell," said Balaster.
A total of 160 of these state-of-the-art cells are carefully welded together and connected by wires to form battery packs.
It takes 10 battery packs to make the HybridsPlus system.
Once finished, it boasts 15 times more electricial storage capacity than the nickel metal hydride battery it replaces.
The Ford Escape's electric motor is retained in the vehicle as is.
Once the new battery system is installed and hooked up to a household electrical outlet, it takes approximately 10 hours for a full charge.
"About 90 cents," is typical cost of a charge explains Carl Lawrence, the Chief Executive Officer of HybridsPlus.
This "electric fuel" is not only cheaper than gasoline but it also produces less air pollution.
The HybridsPlus vehicle still needs gas to run it's small engine but not as much as the factory built Hybrid.
During a test drive of a newly converted Ford Escape, the on-board computer actually pegged 132 mpg on a flat road in Boulder as it coasted along at about 40 miles per hour.
But the cost of making an already "green" car even greener is staggering.
Converting a factory built Ford Escape Hybrid into a Plug-in Hybrid is $30,000.
"The prices will be coming down," claims Lawrence as the major car manufacturers come out with their own versions soon.
But even at this price, business is good for HybridsPlus.
A few customers are wealthy private individuals who want to do their part to save the planet according to Lawrence.
More importantly, power companies like Xcel Energy are waiting in line for their own conversions.
Lawrence says the utilities want to understand how Plug-in Hybrids could be used to manage their renewable energy.
The car's battery provides storage the companies don't otherwise have.
"They can store that energy and feed it back into the grid when the utility really needs it," says the CEO.
There's no question what's happening in Boulder is cutting edge technology.
Lawrence estimates his company is one, maybe two years ahead of Detroit.
In 2009, HybridsPlus converted 25 cars.
This year, the company could create 100 new Plug-ins.
As a newly completed battery system is lowered into an Escape's rear storage compartment, a reporter is told the workers here are spending less time on trouble shooting.
"Most of the installations go in and work right the first time," says Arthur Fowler, a Technician with HybridsPlus.
The company employs about 20 people.
It's received $110,000 in grants from the Governor's Energy Office.
