How did we jump from hybrid SUV’s that get about 30 miles per gallon to hearing about one that gets 100 to 150 mpg?  For the past month or so, a company based near Seattle, Washington has been getting a ton of press about an “extreme hybrid sport utility vehicle” that can reportedly be driven 150 miles on just one gallon of gas.

Ed Furia is founder and current CEO of AFS Trinity Power Corporation, a company that has equipped a Saturn Vue Green Line with their patented “fast energy” battery system to showcase the new technology.  Known as the XH-150 (extreme hybrid), the modified Vue can accelerate from 0-60 mph in just under 7 seconds.  More impressive though, the vehicle can be driven 40 miles on battery power alone.  And, with an overnight charge using your standard 110 volt power plug (or a 3 hour charge using a 220 volt outlet), the extreme hybrid is ready for another 40 miles.

So, how does AFS apply this technology to come up with their claim that it gets 150 miles per gallon?  Furia starts by explaining that most Americans (80%) drive less than 40 miles per day.  This figure was released by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2003.  I would have to agree with this estimate for my personal driving, as 365 X 40 = 14,600 miles per year, which is about how much I drive.

Furia uses the 40 miles per day number for six days per week, and increases that figure to 100 miles per day, one day of each week.  This totals 340 miles of driving each week.  Using these numbers, his modified hybrid drives 280 of those miles using absolutely no gas.  The remaining 60 miles are driven using about 2 gallons of gas, based on an average of roughly 30 miles per gallon.  And, while 340 miles on 2 gallons of gas would be 170 mpg, Furia believes 150 mpg is an even more reasonable and conservative figure.

Now do you see why AFS Trinity Power Corp. is getting so much attention in the press?  I guess the only bad news is that we currently can not buy any vehicle with this type of plug-in hybrid technology.  Furia hopes his company can license the system to an automaker that can mass produce it and have it available to the public in 2-3 years.  He also estimates that adding this kind of hybrid technology to a vehicle would add $8,000 to the sticker price, which he believes can be recouped in 3 years or so based on fuel savings alone.  Based on the above figures, I’d say 4-5 years might be more realistic.

After reading several press releases about the Extreme Hybrid from AFS, I still had lots of questions.  Guess I wasn’t the only one, as I found a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page on the official AFS Trinity website here.  After spending an hour on the site, I believe Mr. Furia might be on to something much bigger than we know.

If you’re interested in learning more, below are a few links to the best online coverage I came across.  So, do you think we’ll see a 150 mpg hybrid within the next 5 years?  Maybe in 2012, we’ll be driving a Furia off the lot!

NY Times
CBS News ( includes video)
Businessweek