123mpg in Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric (PHEV)

[paul06101939]

If you had a larger generator in a hybrid and had two banks of batteries, and the same process, when one bank goes low the motor kicks in to charge, and charge only and not use the gasoline motor to use as a. Drive train, so it would always be running on electric power? unit

[boldziga]

3 bucks a gallon? 3 bucks for 4 litres??? WTF IS THIS IN AUSTRALIA ITS $1.30 A LITRE AND 1 LITRE IS 0.25 GALLONS WHAT IS THIS DAMMIT

[bockydo]

This is how you beat the gas prices . Buy a a car like this . And when you want to drive fast , do that on your sports bike . Everything has its purpose .

[redneck500]

they need to make ALL cars like this so we can tell those towel head bastards to swallow their gas and shove it rite up their little hineys!

[urbex2007]

we pay £5 per gallon in the UK. My diesel car averages 70mpg, so no need to pay extra for a heavy hybrid. I still get low road tax, 0-60mph in 10s and 120mph top speed with low insurance. Can't see the attraction of the Prius unless they factory fit a better electric system. Then it would sell using that feature alone in the UK.

[CarbineGuy]

Christ that's ridiculous. Really cool too.

[swk22]

what manufacturer and kit did you go with? thanks!

[mtb416]

Hybrids are cool, I guess, but they're all hype. They cost more produce. Their production creates more pollution. They still take forever to pay dividends. And did I mention a loaded Prius goes 0-60 in like 18 seconds? That's on par with an H1 that weighs 7,000lbs.

Hybrids are useful if you put a lot of time in behind the wheel, but otherwise they are a trendy fashion statement, usually complete with an Obama sticker on the back.

Yeah, you're saving the world by driving a hybrid. ROTFLMAO

[emforty2]

Asina car manufacturers had been leading the last 10~20 years

Prius over a decade old proven technology

Hondas FCX fuel cell the first production hydrogen powered on the road

the Volt still a fictional science project unproven technology coming out in 2 years if it even ever happens

[amoringis]

Asian car manufacturers will again lead in these new vehicles because they are not beholden to big oil. The biggest investors in US car companies is big oil. Why will they change the fuel requirement in them? It is pure business but is bad for us and them in the long run. Asia does not have that much oil. They have to use their brain and resourcefulness to survive in the near future.

[mtb416]

amoringis: China is the #1 user of oil my friend. Get your facts straight. China is entirely beholden to oil, and their dependence is growing faster than the U.S.'s ever did.

[monkeyrun]

one question, do you still need to do oil change every 5000 miles like a normal Prius?

[davem5321]

I may not need to do an oil change every 5000 miles, but I still do them on that schedule. We'll see what Toyota recommends when they start shipping their PHEV in 2010.

[hopeitshappy]

we only have 95ron and 98ron and 102ron fuel in england

[itsanthonyhere]

I want one of these so bad!

[james86d]

$2.99 a gallon. We're paying about a fiver a gallon in the UK ($10).

[blazerboy5252000]

Help! I own a 1989 s-10 Blazer with the 4.3L V6 and I currently get about 13 mpg. Fortunately, I am buying a 2008 Prius within the month. Where can I get this conversion in/near Connecticut? Sorry, but you can't make me get rid of my Blazer--It's just going to be limited to surfaces other than paved roads.

[davem5321]

I don't know of anyone in Connecticut yet, but watch A123system/hymotion. They will probably be the first in your area.

[label1877]

Don't buy a 2008 Prius, wait for a 09. News reports say it will get 100 mpg, so imagine 150-160 mpg with a kit on a 09!

[cdltpx]

You do the conversion yourself you will void the warranty. Please take the mans advice wait for the 09 if the factory is offering PHEV I get 42/45 mpg with my Prius not as good as 100+ mpg but I will wait till the warranty is out then we are planning to upgrade our car to plug in. Unless you could care less about warranty but now. The cost to insure an additional vehicle isn't worth it might get a motor bike just to ride around on.

[coffeebotography]

Who did your Prius plug in conversion?

[davem5321]

Hybrids Plus in boulder CO did the conversion. They have a website at hybrids-plus(dot)com

[nofanny]

Putting cheap petrol in? Cost wise it works oout cheaper to put more expensive premim as it last SOO much longer! and you get much better performance (which is needed)

[jvolstad]

I rent a Prius at the airport whenever I fly home. (SAT)

BTW, I remember 25 cent a gallon gas back in 1970.

[label1877]

Yeah, I remember 24.9 cents a gallon in 1970, but I only made $1.50/hour. I am better off today at $18./hour,$3.50 a gallon driving a car that gets 39 mpg versus 8mpg.

[milofonbil]

How many kilowatt/hours of electricity did you use? 1 Gallon of gas = 33.5 KWH.

[davem5321]

Here in the Seattle are most of our electricity comes from Hydro. When I charge at work all of the electricity comes from Hydro.

[milofonbil]

Dave, I'm not worried where the electricity comes from. I buy green tag electricity form PSE anyway = all green electricity. What I want to know is: How many KWH's in addition to the tank of gas to drive the 1171 miles? or how many KWH/mile for all electric? I am waiting for a factory PHEV and want to work out the math.

[davem5321]

I don't have an exact number. There are a couple of factors you should also think about. In my case I get 50% of my charging for free. Half of my recharge comes from when I plug in at work. I'm not charged for that. Also, with the regen braking on the Prius I get a small recharge when I coast down hill and when I brake. You might take a look at the google rechargeit website. They publish driving date for their cars. That may provide the information you are looking for.

[milofonbil]

I have a small device called a Kill-a-watt that can measure the amount of power drawn through an outlet. It might be interesting as to how many kilowatt-hours a typical charge at home or at work requires. Total KWH/mile = (kilowatt-hours from outlet + gallons * 33.5 KWH)/total miles driven

[ReduceGHGs]

I've got a 2006 Prius that's still under warranty. I would imagine it's best to wait until that expires before any modifications. The only kit on the market I've seen is from CalCars and costs about $12k. Anything else available out there?

[GSpotter63]

try A123 thae have a good Prius plug-in kit.

[DemoFly]

Excellent cars if you don't go over 40mph. Which is basically no where, so boo hoo.

[u2bboob]

You missed the whole point, Demofly. It's limited to 40 mph only in all-electric mode i.e. if you don't want to use *any* gas at all. I don't know of any other cars that get over 122 mpg so this is pretty damn excellent. BTW, 122 mpg proves that they drive over 40 mph A LOT, otherwise they would use *NO* gas and the gas mileage would be infinite. Is that really so difficult to understand?

[tubemoog]

Who and where did you have the conversion done?

I have a 2007 Prius - Getting 45 miles to a gallon.

[Leon112006]

i want save the planet to Dave just egnore these people how cant see that if everyone drove electric cars what a quiter and cleaner world city town village street it would be.Watch the film you morons. Who killed the Electric Car. yea your right im pissed off! Do you guys work for the oil campanys?

[Leon112006]

Thanks for posting this info.

[YoraRiderYamaRider]

How many miles do you drive each day? How many times did you have to plug it in (you're not counting the energy you put into it from the grid)? What are your emissions? In my opinion these aftermarket hacks that install these modifications to an emissions control device (HV Battery) should be charged as federal criminals... because that's what they are. Ever heard of the clean air act? Don't believe these hacked plug-ins are high emitters? Do your homework!

[davem5321]

I have done my homework. I have the government reports that show my car has 48% lower emissions due to this plug in conversion.

[YoraRiderYamaRider]

Over what cycle? What's the source of power your electric company uses? You've not done your homework.

[davem5321]

I live in the Northwest where most of the electrical power to charge my plug-in comes from emission free hydroelectric (well over 70% even at peak load in the winter). Much of my research comes from US DOE sources. What are your source of information about plug-in hybrids? I would be happy to review them if you think there are reports that I should review.

[wilsonbh]

Wow! The electric modification costs as much as the original sticker price of the vehicle.

[davem5321]

First adopter prices are always high. As more of these systems are built the price will come down.

[davem5321]

The conversion was done by Hybrids Plus out of Boulder CO. You can find them by using Google and searching for "Hybrids Plus."

[billdale1]

I'm glad u can get gud mileage, but I'm concerned that Toyota forces ppl 2 go 2 extremes 2 do so. If yr conversion is like many, the extra batteries r put N the back over the axle, throwing the car dangerously out of balance & giving the car way 2 much oversteer. I hope yours is not like that... take it on an empty wet parking lot sum time & crank it N2 a harder & harder turn so U no if and when the back end breaks loose, & will know what to expect in emergencies. (cont.)

[davem5321]

My conversion added about 80lbs to the cargo area of the car. I have driven 5000 miles since the conversion. Before the conversion I put 100,000 miles on my previous Prius's. I have not noticed any difference in the driving quality between my PHEV and my other series II Prius.

[billdale1]

A true battery electric, getting all its power from the grid, solar panels, etc., is far more efficient-- the Phoenix Motorcar and the eBox battery EVs, which are both far bigger and more powerful than the Prius, both get mileage of 130- 150 mpg. equivalent, and are well-balanced and handle well.

[davem5321]

That is probably true. If there were more EVs available that had 200 to 300 miles in range I would own one. The day I picked up my PHEV I drove it 1400 miles. I could not have done that in an EV.

[remaxfla]

WOW!!! I own an '07 Prius and get in the mid 50's. Please post your web site and more info on how you can convert a Prius to be an electric hybrid. Thanks!