Frank Castro, fleet manager for Tacoma Public Utilities, explains the advantages of a plug-in hybrid below:

I was stopped at a traffic light on South Tacoma Way when the engine killed. I instinctually cringed. Usually when that happens, a hefty bill isn’t far off.

Frank Castro then leaned over from the passenger seat to remind me that not only was this normal, the energy conservation when stopped was one of the benefits of driving a hybrid.

“Instead of idling and using up power,” said Castro, the fleet manager for Tacoma Public Utilities, “it just shuts it off. When it’s stop-and-go, it saves a lot of power.”

I was driving one of the utility company’s two plug-in hybrids Wednesday morning. The Toyota Priuses received after-market conversions of a Manzania Micro battery pack, which allow them to drive about 20 miles under only electricity. The cars are largely used for inner-city, short-distance driving, making the setup ideal.

Like other hybrids, though, it also relies on its internal-combustion engine when the battery runs low or when it needs a bit of extra power for acceleration or to drive faster than 35 mph.

The battery pack, which takes up about half of the trunk, holds five kilowatt/hours. It takes about six hours – and 30 cents at today’s rates – to recharge.

Learning to drive without the gasoline engine kicking in takes a bit of practice. Computer screens on the dashboard keep the driver aware of different power levels. When the engine switches from all-electric to gasoline, it emits a beep. (With an electric engine, the beep is one of the only audible sounds the car produces.)

During a quick zip around South Tacoma, I tried to drive as far as I could on the all-electric mode. At first, it wasn’t easy. Every time I accelerated, the beep taunted me. But after about 10 minutes my foot’s touch was light enough to cruise much of South Tacoma Way on all-electric.

TPU received the outfitted cars in December, and it also has 23 non-plug-in hybrids. They’re used as pool cars for the company’s employees.

The cars cost $23,000 each, and Tacoma Public Utilities paid $13,000 for the plug-in conversion kit. The plug-ins aren’t produced on a mass scale, Castro said, but if they were, they have the potential to save lots of money over the life of the cars.

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I don’t know if this guy is a regular at Tacoma City Council meetings, but the collective groan when he approached the podium made me think he is. Or maybe it was just the cool-guy shades inside (hello, Corey Hart), the Mardi Gras beads (bling with a retail price of $4), floppy hat (is he hunting crocodiles?) or suspenders on top of a polo shirt (Urkel’s cousin?).

But either way, he made a fool of himself. Enjoy this video (shamelessly ripped off my TiVoed broadcast of the meeting):

The video doesn’t show that when the speaker was approaching the podium, one councilmember’s voice was heard on the mike saying, “He better make this quick.” Another grumbled, “Oh brother.”

And I’m not sure whether I should give Bill Baarsma props for scolding the guy, or shake my head at Baarsma scolding the guy and then telling him that if he says something like that again, then he’ll be kicked out. That's the spirit!

Again, I get to do something pretty dang cool today. I'm going to be meeting some folks from Tacoma Public Utilities to test-drive one of their new plug-in electric trucks.

I'll let you know how it goes.