A south Minneapolis garage this week gave supporters a sneak peek at its new business, and a glimpse of what might be the future of the automobile.
ReGo Electric Conversions will open for business Aug. 19, but it hosted an open house on Monday for partners and curious neighbors to take a look. Its shop is located under the same
solar-panel-covered roof as Mulroy's Body Shop, at 3920 Nicollet Ave. S. in the Kingfield neighborhood.
The company will convert gas-electric hybrid vehicles into plug-in hybrids, which contain an extra battery that can be charged off an ordinary electrical outlet.
Co-founder Shayna Berkowitz says a few years ago she was looking for someone to convert her Toyota RAV4 to an all-electric vehicle. When she couldn't find any shops in town that could do the job, she thought there might be an opportunity.
Gas-to-hybrid-or-electric vehicle conversions are an expensive proposition, more than $40,000 per vehicle. The market for them doesn't exist today, but Berkowitz believes it will someday, and that ReGo will be ready when it arrives. Meanwhile, Berkowitz and her business partner, Alex Danovitch, believe there's enough work to keep them busy converting hybrids to plug-in hybrids.
The company has 11 employees. Over the past two years they've developed a process for winterizing and installing existing battery technology into gas-electric hybrid vehicles. The extra battery allows a hybrid car to travel at higher
speeds and longer distances on battery power alone, which can help save money and reduce emissions. The conversion process takes about 24 hours and costs around $5,000. One of ReGo's first customers is the city of Minneapolis, which is paying to convert one of its Priuses to a plug-in hybrid for Mayor R.T. Rybak.
Berkowitz points to the war in Iraq, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the growing issues of global warming and air pollution as reasons why ReGo couldn't be starting up at better time.
"People have really made a commitment to hybrid vehicles, which have been the best option available for people who want to move toward a more sustainable transportation sector," says Berkowitz. "We're in a place now to be able to offer people a next step with those hybrids."
Source: Shayna Berkowitz, ReGo Electric Conversions
Writer:
Dan Haugen