Plug-in hybrids generate buzz in San Jose Plug-in hybrids generate buzz at San Jose conference

The plug-in hybrid car is ready for its close-up.

Once known only to a small group of devotees, the ultra-high-mileage cars have generated enough buzz to draw about 650 people to a plug-in conference in San Jose Tuesday.

Major auto companies discussed their plans to mass market plug-ins, which operate like regular hybrids but can recharge off a wall socket, greatly extending their mileage. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced that a local startup will install charging stations around the city, for plug-in owners who live in apartments or want to recharge at work.

And Andy Grove, former CEO of computer chipmaker Intel Corp., suggested a government program to retrofit existing trucks and SUVs with plug-in technology.

The conference was a sign that plug-ins may soon hit the mainstream. No big car company currently mass produces them. Until now, the only way to get one was to buy a regular hybrid and pay someone to convert it - or try to do the work yourself.

But General Motors is now developing a type of plug-in car called the Volt, which the company plans to start selling in 2010. GM also plans a plug-in version of the Saturn Vue sport utility vehicle. Ford has its own plug-in program, as do Toyota and Daimler.

For the automakers, plug-ins are a way to address global warming and record gasoline prices at the same time.

During a hybrid car convention called Plug-in 2008 at the McEnerny Convention Center, Tim Kent with AFS Trinity shows off an extension cord that charges an electrically converted Saturn VUE on Tuesday July 22, 2008 in San Jose, Calif. less During a hybrid car convention called Plug-in 2008 at the McEnerny Convention Center, Tim Kent with AFS Trinity shows off an extension cord that charges an electrically converted Saturn VUE on Tuesday July 22, ... more Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Plug-in hybrids generate buzz in San Jose 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

"We increasingly believe that the ultimate solution involves the electrification of the auto as quickly as possible," said Jon Lauckner, vice president of global program management for General Motors.

The company announced Tuesday that it will collaborate with 34 electrical utilities in the United States and Canada to study how plug-ins will affect the electrical grid, hoping to iron out any problems before the first wave of mass-market plug-ins arrives. The Electric Power Research Institute of Palo Alto, one of the organizers of Tuesday's conference, will also participate in GM's study group.

"Utilities are about to become the gas stations for these vehicles, and they have to get it right," said Mark Duvall, the institute's manager for electric transportation studies.

Longtime fans of the plug-in view the car companies' interest with a dose of skepticism. They point out that GM gave birth to the first mass-market, all-electric car - the EV1 - only to abandon the project. Saying the cars could pose a legal liability, GM literally took back the cars, which were leased to customers, and crushed the vehicles with a trash compactor.

"I know there's a group of people in GM who are 100 percent committed to the Volt, but they're not in charge," said Sherry Boschert, author of the book "Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America." "Until I can buy the car, it's still vaporware."

But Boschert and others believe that public interest in plug-ins will ensure that the cars reach the mainstream. Backers say the cars can get the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon or better.

"Change is absolutely afoot," said Linda Nicholes, president of the Plug In America activist group. "I don't think there's any way to put the electric genie back in the bottle."

Because plug-ins will need a place to recharge in public, the city of San Jose announced a partnership with Coulomb Technologies of Campbell to install charging stations on light poles. The stations, which look like triangular canisters, will draw their power from the poles. Car owners will need to sign up for the service and will receive a small electronic card that will activate the charging stations.

Coulomb will install three to five stations in San Jose next year, even though the cars aren't yet widely available.

"It's kind of a chicken-and-egg thing," said Chief Executive Officer Richard Lowenthal. "We need to be there first."

For video footage of the plug-in conference in San Jose, go to sfgate.com.