AutoBlog Green reports on a real world test for the Prius with an after-market modification to make it a plug-in hybrid:

The lab drove two groups of Prius test vehicles (one 40-car fleet and another 75-car fleet) from early 2008 until March 2009 for almost 500,000 miles and found that the average fuel economy tallied 46 and 49 mpg, respectively. As you might expect, driving style and the battery mode (charge sustaining vs. charge depeleting) had a big impact on the figures.

Hymotion’s retrofit of the Prius was evaluated by Consumer Reports as AutoBlog Green reported ealier.

As a reference, I get real-world mileage of 54.1 MPG over the last 10 tankfuls by driving the speed limit … most of the time … in my daily 90 mile round trip commute up the California coast. I do not “hypermile” or invoke other tricks; I drive the Prius just like I do my Ford Sporttrac truck.

Hymotion’s kit is reported to cost $11,000, a sum indicating the high cost of electric storage for cars. The added cost of extra batteries, as well as the extra weight the batteries impose, make it a poor choice for an alternative to fossil fuels.

In the meantime, existing hybrid technology for small cars, where weight of the battery pack can be kept in line, is the only reasonable interim solution to squeezing out every mile you can from a gallon of gas.

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