Plug-in Hybrid Electric Cars: How They'll Solve the Fuel Crunch

By Ben Hewitt

Published in the May 2007 issue.

The future of American motoring can be found in any hardware store. It's not in the automotive section, but over in the power tools aisle. There it sits, proudly displayed as the newest must-have tool in DIY America: the high-powered cordless drill. It's the battery we're interested in, a lithium-ion pack so densely charged with energy that a new 28-volt ­power pack is slimmer than an older 18-volt nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) battery. In just over a year, li-ion completed a leap from cellphones to power tools and grabbed the spotlight in that market. Now its boosters say the battery is preparing to graduate to the big time, 4 million miles of American road.

That is the vision articulated by automotive executives, shade-tree Prius hackers, Department of Energy officials and — especially — budding battery impresarios such as Ric Fulop. To hear Fulop tell it, electric motors powered by li-ion batteries are the future. Specifically, his batteries. Fulop is always excitable, but he really starts to rev up when the talk turns to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs — and he makes sure the subject comes up often. Then he tends to cut loose with a "Dude!" As in: "Dude! We're getting 7000 charge cycles." Or: "Dude! Have you driven an electric car?"