Given that oil is over $130 a barrel and gas prices are above $4 a gallon, I figured it was time to test out a plug-in Prius. A123/Hymotion was kind enough to lend me one of their retrofitted cars last week, and I have to say it was an enjoyable and insightful experience. I detail my experience in my latest Clean Break column. Apologies for U.S. readers — the column discusses fuel economy as “Litres per 100 km” rather than MPG.

What I can tell you is that five of the six days I drove the car I got 100 MPG or higher fuel economy, and on some trips got over 200 MPG and even 300 MPG a couple of times. I found that driving behaviour improves with each day and you learn to use more of the electric battery than the engine, and develop techniques for doing so. The only sub-100 MPG day was when I had a 155-mile drive north of Toronto and back. I logged 55 MPG that day. Otherwise, my driving was mainly 5 or 10 mile hops around the city (I’m an urban dweller), which is perfect for a plug-in vehicle. I used a bit more than a quarter of a tank of gas and only $3.83 worth of electricity (and associated charges) during my six day trial. Most of the gas was used during my one-day trek to the country.

A couple of points. To use electric mode as much as possible you’re forced to drive less aggressively. It’s difficult at first, but after a while it becomes natural and is actually more relaxing. In fact, I realized that if everybody just drove the speed limit, learned to coast to stop signs and traffic lights, and didn’t accelerate toward every traffic light, the streets would be safer and we’d all save oodles of fuel. Using this car also made me realize the importance have having real-time feedback on fuel economy. This isn’t unique to the plug-in model, as the Prius and other hybrids have this as well. But it made me wonder: Why aren’t all cars mandated to have this feature? I mean, if we’re promoting energy displays for the home as a way to spark conservation, why not put them in the car to encourage better driving habits and fuel savings?

Wouldn’t this be a simple and inexpensive thing to do? Perhaps there are after-market products for this already. If not, I see an interesting business opportunity.

BTW: Readers of this blog obviously have high regard for all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Of the 124 people who have so far voted in my blog poll (see lower right-hand side of main page), 48 per cent said they would purchase an all-electric given the opportunity, while 32 per cent preferred to buy a plug-in hybrid. Only 8 per cent wanted a fuel cell car, while a surprising 2 per cent said they’d purchase a conventional hybrid. Flex-fuel cars also got lower votes, with just 4 per cent supporting the biofuel path. The bottom line: 80 per cent are in favour of plug power!

It didn’t get nearly as much coverage as it should have in North America, so it’s worth highlighting again that the U.K. government approved a plan last week to build up to 25,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by erecting up to 7,000 massive wind turbines within 11 ocean “zones” surrounding the British coastline. This ambitious 12-year plan has been criticized by some, but is generally supported by many environmental, wind and anti-wind groups in the United Kingdom. The government hopes that the early commitment will provide wind developers with confidence to make investments in the projects.

If the wind capacity is built, it would bring to 33,000 megawatts the total amount of offshore wind capacity planned off the British coastline. Taking into account offshore’s capacity factor, which because of a much strong and consistent wind regime is much better than onshore wind, this would be enough renewable energy to meet half the electricity demands of a province the size of Ontario.

Offshore wind is the next frontier for wind energy, and this U.K. announcement focuses attention on what North American governments are doing (or aren’t doing) to study and support offshore development. Already, there are ambitious proposals to build offshore wind farms on the U.S. east coast, Canada’s northwest coast and in Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan. Given the enormous demand for turbines that will be created in the U.K., on top of demand in continental Europe, it wouldn’t be surprising if North American projects are stalled in their tracks because of difficulty getting turbines. It will be interesting to see which of the offshore turbine manufacturers takes the early initiative by setting up shop in Canada or the United States, where they could establish an early foothold on offshore turbine orders.

One thing that’s true is that North American projects will benefit from the experience gained from the U.K. projects. On the other hand, this means dependence on imported skills and technology.