The sun is shining on one car sharing organisation stateside, as HOURCAR, a Minneapolis-St Paul company offers two plug-in hybrid vehicles recharged with solar power to its members.

The organisation, which works in a similar manner to green car clubs here in the UK such as CityCar and WhizzGo, will receive electricity from solar-powered recharging stations. The electricity is passed on to the hubs which are based by a local Co-Operative store and by a light rail station.

There are more than 650 members of the HOURCAR scheme in the Twin Cities, with members connecting the plug-in hybrid electric Toyota Prius cars to standard 120V electric outlets when the cars are parked in their designated spots. When the vehicles are on the road, the 2kW grid-connected solar system then supplies electricity back to the host sites.

The scheme came about thanks to the Office of Energy Security, part of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which put forward a grant. HOURCAR, which operates 16 low emission vehicles currently, hopes to expand its fleet to 26 units next year.