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Hybrid Car Prototypes Get 100 Miles Per Gallon

More plug-in electric cars may be on Southern California roads in the next few years. The latest version gets more than 100 miles a gallon but still uses gasoline. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

Hybrid Car Prototypes Get 100 Miles Per Gallon

(Photo: This plug-in Toyota Prius gets more than 100 miles a gallon, but still uses gas. Ed Joyce/ KPBS .)

More plug-in electric cars may be on Southern California roads in the next few years. The latest version gets more than 100 miles a gallon but still uses gasoline. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

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San Diego Gas & Electric is testing two new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The cars recharge their batteries by plugging into a typical electric wall outlet. Ricardo Bazzarella's company built the battery packs for the test cars.

Bazzarella: We don't change anything on the car – we're just adding an additional energy storage to the vehicle, thus allowing the vehicle to go full-electric and also doubling the fuel economy of the vehicle.

He says the cars get from 80 to over 100 miles per gallon, because they run in electric mode more often. SDG&E will study the performance of the cars over the next six months to see how they improve gas mileage and reduce emissions. The utility says 4 million plug-in hybrids could be added statewide using the existing electricity supply.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.