>Gas2 says it’ll be “a while” before the system will go mainstream — likely several years — but it seems a no-brainer for every hybrid and electric vehicle to install this system or one like it to eke out battery charge through energy that is normally wasted. Gas-powered cars also have batteries that get a charge while the engine is running, but they use a belt attached to the engine itself to charge the battery. This causes gas-powered engines to be less efficient, and with most conventional cars using only around 15 percent of the potential energy of gasoline, efficiency comes at a premium.

Most hybrid car drivers will be familiar with the concept of recovering energy from normal car functions because of the increasingly frequent use of brake systems that, when used, transfer heat and friction of normal braking to the battery. As fuel economy standards improve over the next decade, car manufacturers are looking for anything they can do to make cars more efficient.<