Once again the forces of industry are outdone by bored teenagers - Luke LaBorde, an 18-year-old boy in San Antonio, TX, converted a gas-powered Bradley kit car to run on electric power, for a mere $18,000 (which, in car money, is a drop in the bucket). The car can go about 40 miles per charge (each charge uses less than a dollar’s worth of electricity), at a top speed of 55 mph, and runs on “an electric motor driven by eight lead-acid batteries.” LaBorde figures that, all said, it took about 150 hours to complete, spread out over three months.

Bradley cars, for the uninitiated, included the GT, Scorpion and GT II,  and could be bought as parts to be assembled by the purchaser. LaBorde bought his on eBay, of course, and got help from his hydraulics-repairman dad, but had never built or converted a car before undertaking this project. In fact, he doesn’t see it as much more than a hobby. But hopefully the major automotive companies were paying attention to this, because it will be brought up the next time they complain about the cost or timeliness of electric vehicles.

We’ve said it before, but it’s still true that when people think of electric cars, they picture - with no offense intended to electric car hobbyists - hopeless tragedies like the dorkmobile to the right of this sentence. But the basic idea of a plug-in electric vehicle still has some promise; San Diego Gas & Electric conducted a yearlong study that, in the end, “confirmed the viability of electricity as a clean and low-cost transportation fuel.”

More specifically, the study showed impressive reductions in tailpipe emissions and in tailpipe emissions and overall fuel costs with a plug-in hybrid compared to a standard hybrid model. The study converted two 2007-model standard hybrid vehicles to run on lithium-ion batteries; the modified cars “achieved a 60% increase in gas mileage, a 37% decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) tailpipe emissions, and an 18% reduction in fuel costs.” By the time these things hit showrooms in 2010, the efficiencies are projected to be even higher than they are now.

And that’s compared to a hybrid. You can imagine how it must look next to a regular car. Actually, you don’t have to, because the study shows that fuel cost savings can jump as high as 57% when compared to a standard gasoline-fueled vehicle.

This is exciting news for consumers; not only has hybrid vehicle technology resurrected the left-for-dead idea of the electric car, but the aesthetic advances made since the electric car’s heyday could change its stock image from that Easter egg up top to something like the Tesla Roadster, or even something from our list of suggestions (pts. I and II).

We had a lot of fun thinking cool cars to hybridize on Wednesday, and evidently left quite an impression on our intern, who brought in a few ideas of his own. He’s currently on picking-dead-birds-out-of-the-gutters duty, so we’re going to post/take credit for his suggestions in his absence.

Knight Rider
Pro: A sleek, black number with built-in navigational system, super computer, and wireless internet access, all of which speak in William Daniels’ voice.
Con: The car’s artificial intelligence lends it an inquisitiveness that means you’ll get dragged into solving mysteries every week, which adds at least 30 minutes to overall travel time. William Daniels is kind of a smart ass, too.

The Mach 5
Pro: Incredibly fast and surprisingly efficient, especially on highways and other situations where speed is required. It’s also sporty, in a unisex kind of way.
Con: Not only is it from a cartoon, it’s Japanese. We’ve pissed off Detroit enough, don’t you think?

Oscar Meyer Weinermobile
Pro: Everyone in America loves, or at least recognizes, the ol’ Weinermobile. Plus, that kind of corporate sponsorship could really help hybrid fuel and battery research, to say nothing of the possibilities for bologna ethanol.
Con: Blind spots galore. And yeah, try getting laid in this thing. Go on, try.

Mystery Machine
Pro: Perfect for bands on tour, or even cross-country road trips with the family. Fits bunk beds and a camping stove in its spacious cabin, and the color scheme is totally retro.
Con: The chances of being waylaid by creepy old men dressed as ghosts increases exponentially with this vehicle. Getting all the dog hair and bongwater out of the shag carpeting will be a real bitch, too.

Werecar
Pro: Fuel economy that borders on the supernatural, good pickup, and roomier than it looks, the Werecar is great for families and comes in a classic gunmetal gray that hides stains and scratches.
Con: It’s pure evil and kills every time there’s a full moon. Expect higher insurance premiums.

We were sitting around at Corn Car HQ (also known as CCHQ) today, waiting for one of the interns to return with lunch, when the conversation turned to Neil Young and his brilliant idea to hybridize his 1957 Lincoln Continental. Pretty cool, yeah? We think so too, and we ended up tossing around ideas for what other classic, iconic cars could put a cooler face on the hybrid vehicle. Here’s what we came up with, taking care to include pros and cons.

1960 Ford Thunderbird
Pro: Just look at it, for God’s sakes. This car would turn Rick Moranis into a badass rebel who smoked unfiltered cigarettes and wore sunglasses indoors. When people look back on the halcyon days of big, American cars, this is what they have in mind.
Con: Hybrid cars have a pretty steep initial cost as it is, so god only knows what this thing would run you. Plus, guys like this would always be challenging you to races.

The General Lee
Pro: Sturdy, dependable, capable of outrunning county police vehicles and jumping over ditches or haystacks. As a promotional effort, each General could come with a CD of Waylon Jennings voice overs.
Con: Anyone who wants a hybrid at this stage of the game would balk at driving something with Confederate flags all over it. Also, the owner’s manual is probably written in Talladega.

The Bluesmobile
Pro: It’s got a cop motor, cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, and it’s a model made before the catalytic converter.
Con: The giant speaker would impact the car’s tires and overall fuel economy. Plus, the cigarette lighter doesn’t work.

Dragula
Pro: It looks awesome, and it’s made from a coffin, so your family will save on funeral expenses if you wreck it and die.
Con: It’s made of wood, which carries its own set of issues (rot, termites, etc.). Plus, you kinda need to be 7 feet tall to drive it.

The Original Batmobile
Pro: It has the body shape and flourishes of a 1960s sports car with the whole Batman aesthetic topping it off. Many of its features are voice-activated, and it’s pretty much indestructible.
Con: It’s one of the most conspicuous vehicles ever made. And Batman always wonders how his enemies keep finding him.

As you can see, it was an exhaustive effort. No rest for the wicked here at CCHQ. If any readers have cars to add to this list, feel free to comment.

We never thought we’d ever say this, but Neil Young made a really good point about hybrid cars. “With all this talk about gas, people are saying we should go to small cars,” he told the Wichita Eagle recently, “but I love big American cars with power. He went on to say that “America is never going to be frugal. It’s too big; the roads are long, the people are big, they like big cars.” The occasion for this musing of his was the conversion, thanks to H-Line Conversions, of his 1959 Lincoln Continental into a hybrid electric car.

God only knows what plugging that beast into his power outlets will do to his electric bill, but he’s right in principle. With the exceptions of cell phones, iPods, and strippers, Americans prefer things on a grander scale. And beyond that, it’s often hard for us to accept function over form in our consumer products; it’s not enough to have an environmentally sound car that gets incredible mileage, we’re going to need something with a certain aesthetic cool factor, too. Seriously, how are we supposed to pick up chicks in this thing?

But we digress. Young is making/has made a documentary about his new electric land whale called Linc-Volt. We’ll be keeping an eye out for it, of course, and suggest you do the same.