In October, Sawyer paid US $25 000 for a brand-new
black 2008 Toyota Prius. But compared with his RAV4 EV,
it was a gas guzzler, going only 1 or 2 km electrically
before switching on its internal combustion engine. So
Sawyer wrote a check for the car, then drove it directly
to Hybrids Plus [see our sidebar,"Getting on the Grid"],
also in Boulder, where he wrote another check, for $32
000—to have his shiny new Prius converted into a PHEV.
(The radio-telemetry business has been very good to Sawyer.)