If things unfold according to plan, Ulrik Poulsen and the rest of the team at Poulsen Hybrid, Inc. will, in Fall 2008, take a key baby step in keeping the roadtrippin dream alive in our new low-carbon reality.

That is when the Shelton, Connecticut based company intends to start selling an after-market kit that can convert any vehicle into a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).

While the kit can be used on "any traditional automobile, wheel size 15” or larger, including front drive, rear drive, all wheel drive, any fuel, and hybrids", the company notes that the first generation system is designed primarily for compact cars and light mid-size sedans.

Poulsen Hybrid does have plans, however, to produce a more powerful version of the conversion kit in early 2009 for trucks and SUVs

The projected price for the kit is $4,200, plus another $600 to have it installed by an authorized facility.

According to the company's website, the announcement of the Auto X Prize was "instrumental" in its decision to move now into commercial production.

Announced on March 20, 2008, the Auto X Prize is a joint initiative by the X PRIZE Foundation, a non-profit educational institute, and Progressive Insurance. It will award $10 million in prizes to teams that, meeting certain guidelines, can design a "viable, clean and super-efficient car that people want to buy."

It has been endorsed by the Sierra Club as a way to "drive automotive ingenuity and technological evolution to the next level.”

It has also now been endorsed by roadtrippin.com.