However, there are folks out there who have hacked Priuses (Prii?) to be plugin hybrids. The advantage of having a plugin hybrid is that for most trips (under 40mph, less than 40 miles) you don’t have to use any gasoline at all. Just plug it in when you get home. Most trips for most people are this distance. However, if you need to go further, you still have that ability because you can use the gasoline engine.

Most people I know wouldn’t have to fill up for months if they had a plug-in hybrid.

However, for city dwellers, plugins do present problems. Since I don’t have a garage and have to park in the street, there’s no way for me to have a plugin because the cord would have to be prohibitively long.

Some are if their main markets have electricity shortage and if electricity is not produced in a clean way.

I remember reading long ago that Saab is just generally responsible for GM’s FWD hybrids and very recently I read that new engineering concept of GM is that they dont plan advance who is going to use what. They just make technology ready to be used what ever brand it might be.

This is global engineering.

We hardly can never know what was engineered by who and where. Even outlook design has gone global. Somebody in Europe could design something to the USA truck and other way around.

Like latest turbo V4 engine of GM, press release just said that main development was done in the USA with help of Europe.

Welcome to the global engineering. Credits only to GM.

I thought automakers were trying to stay away from a plug-in car.

What’s the advantages of this?

I thought there was a stigma concerning plugs and cars.