SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) will buy and test two plug-in hybrids, from Raser Technologies Inc., designed to achieve more than 100 mpg in typical daily driving, with little to no greenhouse gas emissions, according to www.Bizjournals.com.

PG&E‘s goal is to integrate additional vehicles into its fleet in the future.

The vehicles are expected to cut operational fuel costs by up to 75 percent by running in all-electric mode during typical daily fleet routes of up to 40 miles. When driving beyond the 40-mile battery electric range, the plug-in hybrids may continue up to 400 miles by generating their own electricity.

The plug-in vehicles are also expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle itself to nearly zero during local daily driving. PG&E plans to plug the vehicles in at night, when energy demand is lowest, to maximize emission reductions and fuel savings for daily routes.

Subsequent versions of the vehicles are expected to provide emergency mobile power from the vehicles’ onboard 100-kW generator to assist in power outages or provide mobile power for work and repairs.

Recently, PG&E entered into a partnership with an electric vehicle manufacturer to develop vehicle-to-grid (V2G) for remote control charging of electric vehicles.

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