Custom-Made Hybrid Reaches 250 MPG

Hybrid cars are the hope of automakers as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, without having to completely switch over to an alternative fuel. Recently, there have been a lot of stories questioning the true fuel-efficiency of hybrids. But if you want a truly fuel-efficient vehicle, maybe it time to talk to the hobbyists.

It looks like a typical Toyota Prius hybrid, but in the trunk sits an 80-miles-per-gallon secret — a stack of 18 brick-sized batteries that boosts the car's high mileage with an extra electrical charge so it can burn even less fuel.
Gremban, an electrical engineer and committed environmentalist, spent several months and $3,000 tinkering with his car...He's part of a small but growing movement. "Plug-in" hybrids aren't yet cost-efficient, but some of the dozen known experimental models have gotten up to 250 mpg...So far, DaimlerChrysler AG is the only company that has committed to building its own plug-in hybrids, quietly pledging to make up to 40 vans for U.S. companies. But Toyota Motor Corp. officials who initially frowned on people altering their cars now say they may be able to learn from them.

Of course, the problem with plug-in vehicles is that they use domestic power which is often produced by burning oil or even dirtier production methods (coal, for example). Still, 250 MPG sounds good to me in the days of $2.50/gallon gas.