It's electric

Al Lococo stood over his truck's exposed engine, grinning.

"I'm not an engineer; I'm not a mechanic," he assured onlookers.

Yet he converted his Ford Ranger from a gas-powered to an electric vehicle, replacing 800 pounds of machinery with 500 pounds. It was Lococo's second gas-electric conversion since 1979.

He was showing it off outside City Hall last week, where city sustainability coordinator Michele Mician had invited electric vehicle owners to exhibit their eco-friendly chariots. After the expo, Lococo and Mician addressed the City Commission, encouraging it to help build a market for plug-in electric vehicles.

Other plug-ins on display included the sleek red Vectrix motor scooter, a Toyota Prius and a converted Scion that its creators call an "eBox." There were a few fuel cars as well, made more efficient by hybrid electric power or, in one case, magnets.

Pascal Schrier is the owner of EcoGanicO, a company in Port Charlotte that sells sustainability-related products, including the Blue Fuel line of magnets. Placed in the fuel lines, Schrier says, the magnets will shrink the size of gasoline molecules so that oxygen can dock to them at a higher rate, adding 12 to 14 percent mileage per gallon. He's in talks with the city of Punta Gorda to equip their ambulance fleet with the magnets, and he hopes to sell to Sarasota city government as well.

At the City Commission meeting, Lococo made a case for the Plug-in Partners National Campaign, which asks city governments to support incentives for the electric-vehicle industry. He railed against our dependence on foreign oil and the wars, high food prices and environmental hazards that have ensued from it.

He asked the commission to reconsider the average driver's needs. Some of the vehicles on display were limited in top speed or in the range they could drive without a recharge. Vendors explained that a person can rent a car for long trips on the interstate, but use the electric car for everyday driving.

"If the capability is within the user's requirements, the automobile is capable," he told them.