Prius Plug - in 2011

Most of the dedicated EV's require a 240/208V charger, and some can be recharged with a std 115V outlet, however, it takes a very long time to charge via a standard 120V outlet, for the Nissan Leaf (full EV), the estimate is 16 hours (120VAC) versus 3 hours with the quick charger (230VAC). The leaf is going to have 24KW of batteries for ~100 Miles of range, the Plug in Prius is estimated to have much less than that, perhaps 4-5KW. You could plug in every 15 miles, if you had FOREVER to get where you are going

It depends on electric rate, but in general it will be 1/3 to 1/2 the price for the electric, but you won't get very much range on it. I think Toyota should just come out with a full EV, and not bother with the plug in, it's almost pointless. Those RAV4 EV's are getting pretty old, time for a new EV Toyota.

 

There's already been some topics on the use of electricity and how certain companies (California is one of them) will charge more as you use more. So if you're running the central A/C or heater, along with lights and appliances and TV's/computers, and then plugging in a car that draws a decent amount of current in order to charge it effeciently, I'm sure you'll see a spike in your electricity bill at the end of the month. And some (and I know it would be the same for me, as I've ran my electricity bill up a couple of times), buying gas and driving in a gas/electric hybrid would be cheaper and more cost-effective than having a full plug-in car to charge everyday.

The trick will be for a car manufacturer to have a plug-in car that draws very low current to do a full charge in a short amount of time.

 

Only 2 to 5 hours to charge it a day and if we drive it under 30mph, it will not use any gas and just normal use, we should see from 50mpg to 70mpg with this system in our Prius.

 

3prong is using the "Engineer" Kit to add batteries to a standard prius, you can do that yourself, if you wanted... They are also in Berkely, CA, won't help those in the rest of the country. A full EV can go highway speeds without using any type of gasoline, while a converted Prius is still going to use it's engine at highway speeds. Sure, you will get some better mileage, but it's not the same as a BEV. You will still need to go to a gas station and buy gas, not so with a BEV. You can make your own "fuel" at home with Solar/Wind/etc, you can only make some of it with a PHEV.

Also, there is no "free lunch", there is no way to charge 4KW or 24KW of batteries without using even more than 4KW or 24KW of wall power.

 

Electricity is so much cheaper then gas for the work it does that this will not be the case unless you really draw huge power during the day. So as long as you charge at night either full electric or PHEV will always cost less to run then gas. Electricity has to go over 50 cents a KWh for most electric cars to cost as much as a gas car at $2.80 a gallon.

 

Don't a lot of the electricity providers charge lower rates at off-peak times (like overnight) when most EVs would be recharging?

 

Only if you have/are setup for time-of-day metering/usage, as far as I know that is mostly out West, where they have a much more complicated rate structure than most states.

 

I don't think those figures are quite accurate. Gas contains 33.7 KWh of energy per gallon (source: google Miles per gallon equivalent), which works out to 8.3c per KWh. I'm not sure what the efficiency percentage of the normal prius is, but since 8.3c is 1/6th of the 50c you said, then the full electric would need to be able to go 6 times farther on the same amount of energy (think 300 MPG). It will probably be about half of that, making ~25c/KWh the breakeven point. But then you also need to consider how long the batteries will last and the cost of replacing them, so that could make a big difference.

 

Try this analysis method which agrees with you:

The best electric vehicles will consume .25KWH per mile, so to go 50 miles you need 50*.25KWH = 12.5KWH

If your Prius gets 50 MPG then the price of electricity equivalent to a gallon of gas, taking you the same distance, is 12.5 times the price per KWH. So if Gas is $3 per gallon then electricity must sell for $3/12.5 or 24 cents per KWH to transport you the same distance.

This also assumes there is no road tax on the electricity. It wouldn't be long before that will be added if there is a significant market penetration by PHEV's and EV's.

 

Agreed. So with the national average of 11 cents electricity is much cheaper then gas. The price is also regulated and changes much more slowly.

Electric Power Monthly - Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State

In CA if you are paying 'penalty rates' then an electric car is not a good deal anymore and a Prius might be a better option though with time of use metering the night rate is always low enough.

 

1) i'm already getting 50-60 mpg
2) i have yet to see anyone install the engineer without a lot of dibbling around to make it work correctly.
3) but i would still buy one if the phev wasn't coming.

 

Gen3 Prius plug-in for consumers will be available late 2011.
Gen4 Prius for both hybrid and plug-in versions will be available in 2014.
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/73333-next-gen4-prius-plug-in-in-2014-a.html

Ken@Japan

 

Found this about CARB, it wasn't good enough to contribute to the death of EVs, now they are attacking PHEV conversion companies such as 3prong in CA:

Who's Killing the Plug-In Hybrid? | Feature | East Bay Express

 

Has anyone installed their kit? How has the experience been?

 

I want to know that too. They are 45 mins away from me and I spoke with one of the guy today and it seems okay. The kit itself is just under $2K but somehow CA resident needs to add $1K on the top of that...

 

Hi Ken,

Do you know the plug in will be available as a plug-in kit for any G3 owners or it will come with a new car as an option only?

 

Ah, found it....

Note: Californian buyers are subject to an extra $1,000 cost due to extended warranty for 5 years and certification, for CARB compliant.

http://www.enginer.us/

and

http://www.enginer.us/img/Enginer%20PHEV%20User%20Manual%20Generation%203%20Prius.pdf

 

Note: Californian buyers are subject to an extra $1,000 cost due to extended warranty for 5 years and certification, for CARB compliant.

I think they add the $1K then take out some $500 installation credit and charge $500 for the installation...