Envia, a Canadian conversion company, this week announced another first: its plug-in hybrid conversion of the Ford F-150. They already convert these into all-electric vehicles, as I noted last month.

Now they also offer a plug-in hybrid conversion alternative to their fully electrified Fords, tuning up the world's most popular pickup from a 15 MPG toad into a 48 MPG prince! And all the while, reducing carbon emissions by 63 percent.

CEO Jay Giraud explains why he specializes in conversions of vehicles already on the road: "Many people think the problem will be solved when the big automakers finally launch their plug-in hybrids, but that will fix only a small number of new cars.”

Roughly 17 million new cars are bought each year, but Giraud sees a much larger opportunity to reduce carbon in the 275 million cars already on the road in North America. Actually, some fleet owners are bringing him brand new Fords to convert.

Envia's conversion of the Ford F-150 gets an all-electric range of 38 miles or a speed of 37 miles per hour before the gas kicks in. The conversion costs $25,000, which would have a payback time of five years at 48 miles per gallon.

Or, hey, if you are not a fleet owner but are in the market for a brand new truck, Ford has plans to take care of this 15 MPG problem themselves: They will be improving the mileage on their F-150 from 15 to 22 MPG. Eventually, that is. But first we must use up all the oil.

Via the EV Podcast

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