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 enlarge | Author: Sherry Boschert
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $10.31
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New (29) from $10.31
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 64348
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 231
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.7
ISBN: 0865715718
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.22930973
EAN: 9780865715714
ASIN: 0865715718
Publication Date: December 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Interesting mix December 30, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a passionately writtten book by a true believer. It's also one of the first books of its type in what will probably be a fairly well-populated category eventually. If you have seen the movie Who Killed the Electric Car and read Joseph Romm's book The Hype About Hydrogen, then you pretty much know the basic arguments presented in this book. The book is sort of an interesting mix of stories, introductions to hybrid and EV advocates and tidbits of information about these types of cars and their recent history. The biggest impression that the average reader should come away with is the idea that the American public has not been given the chance to have the types of transportation options that might be adventageous for us due to a long history of manipulation and obstruction by auto and oil companies. I think a lot of people would really find plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles enjoyable to own and drive if they were given the chance. Hopefully the climate of opinion will change quickly enough for these types of vehicles to enter the market and make a real difference before it's too late. There are some positive signs. Finally, I'm sure most readers have a pretty good idea why these types of vehicles are a good idea, but if anyone doesn't, this book outlines a number of good reasons.
 What's been happening with electric/hybrid autos the last 10 years. September 12, 2007
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
I've often wondered what been happening with electric/hybrid car development since the mid 90's and GM's EV-1. Remarkably little is written on this subject.
This book reveals the truth about what's possible, and how little the car manufacturers are doing to make them a reality. Even Toyota's Prius is a small step compared to what they could be making NOW.
A rare combination of facts and intrigue that will recharge the reader September 1, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Sherry Boschert brings her science-writing skills to bear on the thorny problem of efficient transportation on the highways. While informing us about the details of hybrid vehicle technology, she also manages to weave in the gremlins that have interfered with improving car efficiency for many years. Her portrayal of the problem of hydrogen hype is well documented and clearly explained in Chapter 3. I recommend this book highly to the environmentally concerned driver as one of the best books in the field, because it gives the reader the inside story with scientific balance.
Timely and engaging but unconvincing August 5, 2007
10 out of 18 found this review helpful
In "Plug-in Hybrids" (New Society, 2006), Sherry Boschert writes about recent electric vehicles, charged from commercial power lines, with gasoline engine backup. See also Michael Schiffer, "Taking Charge" (Smithsonian Books, 1994), on the early history of electric vehicles, about 1880 to 1930.
Main merits of Boschert's book: wide-ranging account of many starts and slips from about 1990 to the present; engaging style, focused on charismatic individuals; deconstruction of hydrogen-powered transportation myths.
Main defects of Boschert's book: inability to relate vehicle speed to operating range performance, cavalier approach to environmental and conservation issues, lack of concern about long-range marketing appeal.
Boschert says plug-in hybrid vehicles can reduce petroleum use and air pollution but does not prove the case. In order to do both, widespread use of plug-in hybrids must somehow avoid stimulating new coal-fired, oil-fired and gas-fired power plants. Boschert shows no way to assure that such an outcome would actually occur.
very practical, myth-busting discussion of the facts July 29, 2007
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book --which in some ways begins where the video "Who Killed the Electric Car" ends, but is yet independent of it --is a very practical, myth-busting discussion of the facts about the capabilities of alternatively-powered vehicles. As one might guess from the title, the book concludes that of all the possible alternatives for fueling cars, plug-in hybrids are the most practical. In fact, as the book reiterates, practical plug-in hybrids were produced and leased by the auto companies about a decade ago --and then recalled and destroyed. Today (July, 2007), news reports say Toyota and GM and perhaps Ford and others "hope" to have an electric car available by 2010. The news stories say Toyota and GM are having trouble getting much more than a range of 40 miles out of the batteries, even though this book points out GM produced electric vehicles in 1999 with a range of about 140 miles!
This book is a good primer on how plug-in hybrids work, and also explores other alternative technologies such as hydrogen and fuel cells, though for several reasons it returns to plug-in hybrids as being immediately available technology.
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