The Killer Plugin 4th Gen Prius

If you are talking about offering 2 battery capacity size options in the Plug-in, Great idea!

 

is this coming direct from toyota???

 

how many tenths of a mile would 25 lbs of batteries produce?

 

I like the 15-20miles EV/60 mpg hybrid mode.

Read somewhere the current solar roof weighs about 66 lbs. The plug-in probably will not have it because of weight, but would be nice if the PV can charge the regular hybrid battery while in the parking lot or when driving. I wish!

 

Photovoltaic paint already exists, at some point we will see it on cars maybe sooner than we think! Just like regen braking, it will contribute to the battery charge!

 

Toyota, and most other car makers, mass produce cars for the masses.
There are some compromises involved .........to appeal to the widest market, keep prices down and profits up.

If you want a custom electric car, go talk to Tesla; and have about a hundred grand in hand.

 

i agree, if it were possible to add packs as easily and safely as a computer battery etc., you'd blow away the competition. and, it wold appeal to many more people. they can pick the range that works best for them instead of being locked into a single range. and, they could change it downstream if their driving pattern changed.

 

I like this idea. We take about 2 1,000 mile trips a year, plus a 300 mile trip once a month or less. All other trips are less than 30 miles round trip. For the 1,000 and 300 mile trips we would depend on the Prius' hybrid features. For the short trips around town we would install the extra battery and could run on EV most of the time. So for us we could install an EV battery and on average drive it about 30 days with that battery installed. We'd only remove it for long trips where we'd need the extra trunk space.

The trick would be for the extra battery installation to be painless. Also to have that battery charge when out of the car would be a big plus. I could see having even more than one exchangeable battery so one could be charging while the car is out being driven on the other.

I can't imagine how the battery would be either light enough to man handle, or some other easy and quick method would be provided to change a heavy battery though.

 

how much does the lift back 1-2 mile battery weigh?

 

You mean something like this:
Green Car Congress: FEV showcasing liquid-cooled, high performance battery for PHEV applications at SAE World Congress

 

About 29 kilos or about 64lbs.

 

thanks, that's not too bad.i guess with lithium, 25 lbs should take you a little way.

 

Currently our 4.4 kWh battery pack weighs 168 lbs (76 kilos) so you theoretically could get 1 kWh out of about 38 lbs. Remember this is 2011 technology, so with newer technology 1 kWh would weigh less and according to Volt specs it should be 20% less or a little over 30 lbs. Probably won't be too long before 1 kWh will weigh 25 lbs.

 

that would be 2-3 miles?

 

Question is how much battery can you add to get it rated at 15 ev without affecting the 55mpg.

 

if it's rated at 11 now, 15 should be easy with current battery tech.