Hi all, new here. A few pruis questions.

1) Only the ventilation fan. It isn't powerful enough to power the A/C compressor. The solar panel is used to circulate outside air into the cabin when the Prius is parked in the sun.

2) Most are selling close to MSRP. As for being worth it, all cars are an expense, not an investment. Is a muscle car worth the premium for the big engine? Is a BMW worth it for the German engineering? If you are thinking about a Prius just to save gas, perhaps you should consider something else. It will save gas, but that's a silly way to look at it.

3) The best way to improve mileage is to work on your driving technique. Toyota has expended a tremendous amount of engineering time refining the Prius. You aren't going to improve it with an after-market chip or air cleaner. This isn't your typical old fashioned car design, slapped together only with an eye for profit. All of the low hanging fruit has been harvested, and then some.

Tom

 

Love it!

The modifications that get done to the prius are considerably more expensive and involved than what would be traditional for non -hybrids. Things like PEV(plug that baby in!) mods and stuff. I am still rather new myself and am still knee deep in the hours and hours of thread reading that has been mentioned.
Welcome to the forums.
~oct

 

The best mod you can do to Prius to increase MPG is the driver. Yup, it is free too.

 

3. Turn it into a PHEV. That will improve the MPG performance. But it won't be economically feasible, just like most performance mods. :madgrin:

 

It wouldn't take hours, it would take weeks. The best way to use solar panels to charge your car is to install them on your house. You simply can't carry around enough of them to do much good.

I really don't care about German engineering - it was only an example. My point is that people like to talk about the "hybrid premium" and ask if you think you will ever make it up. People never ask about the "muscle car" premium if you decide to buy a car with a big engine. As you pointed out, most people buy a car based on its features, reliability, and price. Look at those factors when making a decision, and stop worrying about the word "hybrid".

Toyota spared no expense getting the highest efficiency out of the Prius given that it is a mass produced car at an affordable price. Little improvements like spark plugs were taken care of years ago. To get low emissions and high efficiency, the Prius is designed as a system. Most things you can change will make things worse, as you will upset the balance of the system.

There is no low hanging fruit left when it comes to improvements. If you want to spend big bucks you can modify your Prius to be a plug-in hybrid.

Tom

 

Yes, but as noted above, the amount of energy (because of the area available on the roof) is really too small to power the car very far.


Re: PHEV

PHEV = Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle.

Several groups offer conversion kits to convert the Gen2 Prius into a PHEV. They are all expensive because they add another bank of batteries to increase the storage capacity. The batteries are expensive.

 

I wish it could. From other posts here and I believe from Toyota data, the panel only delivers ~60 watts. Unfortunately, 1 horsepower = ~746 watts.

According to 2009 Tesla Roadster - Road Test - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver and Operation - The Tesla Roadster Buyers Guide, the standard 120 volt cord that the Roadster comes with takes 37 hours to charge the car from 0 to full. There's a mention of 16 amps which means (16 amps * 120 volts) = 1920 watts. 1920 >> 60

There are optional expensive charging options which can pull even more current for a faster charge.

 

They squeezed out a bit more MPGs with more compact magnets in the motor/generators and enhancements to the body aerodynamics. Are you prepared to design and build even better magnets or body shapes?

 

Yes, Toyota came up with something that improved performance and fuel economy and emissions, but it required re-engineering the motors and the shape of the car. These things are pretty much beyond what after market tinkerers can do. (Lots of people can hack away at body panels; the hard part is finding an improvement. CFD simulations and wind tunnel testing, anyone?) Someone who wants a riceburner should buy a riceburner, not a Prius.

 

In much the same way your desk top computer got cheaper and better all at the same time. The technology is paid for now, and millions spent on fine tuning it.
Toyota spent many millions designing and testing Prius to get it where it is, if you have millions to spend you might improve it or you might fluke it for less. Let us know how you go. Try packing dry ice around the electrical cables between the inverter and the battery.
It is also worth remembering what one person considers an improvement another considers an abomination. I'd hate a loud droning V8 but some (including me when I was younger) love it. If I was looking for a performance car I'd start by sacrificing comfort and space by buying a Corolla then mod that with suspension and engine upgrades.
I have done a handling mod on my Prius, actually 2.
Pump up the tyres to around 50PSI
Install a BT Tech stiffening plate to stiffen the chassis.
Prius in Australia already comes with Michelin tyres as standard.

 

I shopped for 6 months and bought the best used Prius I could find. Mine was a fleet car with 40,000 miles on it. I looked for a one owner car with a clean car fax. Price was a huge factor so it made it really hard for me. I only had 15000 to play with. So I did lose some cars because of this. I ended up with a 2008 and got it for 15200 I really wanted the red one with the fancier package but it was 15900. But looking on auto trader I got a really good deal because the 2008 cars were going all day for 18 and 19 You just have to put alot of time into getting a really good deal.
So funny because when I pulled up in my new Prius my boss says "yea your really going to save alot of money when your making those car payments" I just laughed and said I don't think so.... I paid cash.