well, not exactly, but check out this video. looks like a design that could really work if they mass produce it.
The Kit That Turns Any Car Into A Hybrid | This Could Be Big - Yahoo! News

my first thought when i saw this was not gas mileage, i thought what an easy way to make my truck a 4x4!

 

Hmm... Interesting - but not surprising. Now, do we know if there are any tax dollars involved in this work? I would bet not!

dn.

 

what would tax dollars mean?

 

Oh, let's see... Can anyone say "Solyndra"? or "Tesla" or how about all of the GM & Chrysler bondholders (including more than a few mutual and private retirement funds) who had their financial interests ripped from them and placed in the laps of the UAW bosses? Parenthetically, today's news headlines are pointing out that taxpayer losses for the non-bankruptcy "bailout" of the two above noted companies (which were more about bailing out excessive UAW pension and medical care benefits than about the actual companies) will far outweigh anything in the banking sector.

Don't get me wrong - I am not opposed to the hybrid concept and from what I have seen in the above referenced link it appears to be a great idea and great ideas will generally survive on their own merits. Mr. Ford, Mr. Durant, and the Chrysler Brothers all did their thing without tax dollars as did countless others. (What do you suppose the latter two would have to say about what their successors have done?) And remember those bicycle builders from Ohio who made those trips to the Carolina coast?

Just sign me as the driver of paid-for trucks with low insurance premiums, small tax bills, and no "carbon footprint" to build me anything new since 1996.

In closing, in case the sarcasm in my earlier post was lost, I am NOT in favor of ANY tax subsidy for ANY industry ANY time!

dn.

 

Basically the same thing Ford & GM (I think both of them do it) uses in it's large hybrids. Nothin new.

-Mike