Miller to announce hybrid-conversion project

Fresh off an international meeting of mayors that focused on municipal climate change initiatives, Mayor David Miller is set to announce a plan to convert hybrid vehicles to plug-in models that can be charged at any wall socket and are powered primarily by electricity.

Conventional hybrids are powered by gasoline engines assisted by an electric motor. But Miller is out to prove that when equipped with larger batteries that can be plugged in and recharged, hybrids can operate in a city setting on a single charge for more than 50 kilometres, while using little or no gasoline.

The initiative -- as reported Thursday by The Toronto Star -- is called the Toronto Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle Pilot Project and is set to be announced by Miller on Thursday. The mayor has just returned from New York City where mayors discussed a "green city" competition as well as methods of tackling climate change on an urban level.