Apr 10, 2008 7:33 pm US/Eastern
Local Inventor Drives Cars Toward 100 MPG
THOMPSON, Conn. (WBZ) ―
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Dabrowski sells his conversion kits for $750 each.
WBZ
As gas prices continue to skyrocket to record highs, a Connecticut investor is setting mileage records with his hybrid.
"Now, we're basically driving for free with no gas," said inventor Michael Dabrowski. "Infinite miles per gallon is the way I like to put it."
Dabrowski has invented a system that allows him to manually bypass the computerized gas-to-electric switch over on his 57 mpg Honda Insight.
"I like to have the ability to maximize my mileage while driving at normal speeds," he said.
Dabrowski sells the kits for $750. He said his kits only work in Honda Insights.
"One hundred miles per gallon for most highway or around-town driving," he said.
So far, Dabrowski has sold 57 of his conversion kits and he has 23 people on his waiting list.
"I like the ability to add electric power," he said.
So he added what he calls his e-wheel.
"The motor spins four times for every time the wheel spins," he explained. "We're at 150 miles per gallon right now, which is as high as the gauge goes."
When Dabrowski came up with his manual integrated motor assist system, "Mima," he was getting a couple inquiries a month through his Web site,
99mpg.com.
Now, with gas heading toward $4 a gallon, he gets a couple inquires a day.
Dabrowski has also built a solar oven hotter than a microwave for canning tomatoes.
He says he thinks car manufacturers need to produce electric conversion kits for all kinds of cars right away in order to buy time for a long-term solution to global warming and climate change.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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