DIY convert your truck to a hybrid over the weekend in your own garage

At first, I was attracted, as always, by the Steering Column from Csaba Csere, the Editor-in-Chief of the Car & Driver:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/columns/c_d_staff/csaba_csere_the_steering_column/fearless_prediction_plug_in_hybrids_will_be_the_hot_rods_of_the_21st_century_column

In this column, Csaba Csere predicted the future with an (almost) fully plug-in electrical vehicle. The "almost" part is that there will be a small gas engine just for charging the battery to keep it running more than a few hundred miles. This would be an excellent car for all the cops that idling on city streets and cabs in big cities.

Somehow when I was searching for the term PHEV, or Plug-in Hybrid Electrical Vehicle, I found the web site of Poulsen Hybrid. The are going to a fairly different approach: retrofitting existing conventional vehicles with a hybrid engine. The idea is to use the gas engine for in town and the high way cruising is been done by the electrical hybrid motor.

I think it is some thing that might actually work, especially for drivers like me who commute 60 miles (round trip) daily on a Ford Explorer averaging 14 miles on the gallon. The most part of the 30 miles drive is on freeways at 60-70 mph. Conventional hybrids won't help me much since they are most efficient for in-town stop and go traffic. On highway, they are pretty much the same as some of the conventional cars, say a Honda Civic.

Plans to start offer this product is in this Fall for small cars. Trucks and SUVs will have to wait till next year. They claim that retrofit a car will cost around $5000, that's pretty cheap considering you can keep your existing car and do it yourself (theoretically) in a few hours. That beats the hell of on a waiting list for a Prius.

The downside of this is first it will use all of your truck space for the bank of batteries. Although smaller and lighter Li-Ion batteries may be used, they have only a 1000-2000 charge cycle lifetime and cost about $4000 to replace.

Although the company claim that they are currently focusing on some fuel efficient small cars, I would think that they should really focus on some of the most fuel inefficient SUVs and pick-ups. The fuel savings will be more significant comparing to their existing mpg and they will have the space to haul the batteries.