Delaware company to retrofit electric battery-powered cars

It looks like the Philadelphia region is going to get its first locally-manufactured electric cars.
The Delaware Economic Development Office has pledged a small $91,140 grant to a New Castle-based automotive processing and modification facility for a project aiming to retrofit gas-powered Toyota Scions for electric battery-power, according to the Wilmington News Journal.
And, let me tell you, the technology craze out of the first state to ratify the Constitution doesn’t end there.
These cars will be equipped with technology developed at the University of Delaware which allows them to store electricity and return excess to the electric power grid when the vehicles aren’t in operation. The cars will cost at least $70,000 to start, according to PhillyDeal$. The company expects their first customers to be businesses who want a good public persona. The News-Journal reports that the cars have a 120-mile range and can charge in four hours.
And who said Delaware offers absolutely nothing to our country and only survives because of a business-friendly tax structure? (Full disclosure: Technically Philly Contributor Sean Blanda has a strange obsession with Delaware.)
Autoport, which has 70 employees, has been processing requirements for more than 35 years and has the capacity to manage more than 100,000 vehicles per year, according to the company’s Web site. The Del. must be hopping because a Philadelphia-based steel trader who has made attempts at a more affordable electric car has also inquired about its own Delaware plant.
All this gooey Delaware and alternative-energy technology news comes in contrast to the troubling car-business news of late.
I insist you read these fun facts about Delaware – the state insect is the ladybug!