Installed kit from Plug in Supply getting 28 miles!

I'm a little late to this thread but wanted to follow up on this. The Volt rear seats fold flat if you pop out the rear seat bottom cushions. They are held into place by a couple of clips and maybe some Velcro. You can pull them out with minimal effort and push them back when you are done.

 

John Hatchett already mentioned that it's not hard to get 45-50 miles of range on a Volt. Over the last 30 days, I've averaged 47 mpg in my Volt traveling 476 miles on 10.1 gallons of gas in charge sustaining mode (AKA hybrid mode). The other 1707 miles were driven on battery power at 260Wh per mile (around 3.8 miles per kWh from the wall or average 46-47 miles range). This was mostly driven on the highway at 55-57 mph on my work commute. The gas-only hybrid 47 mpg is a little high. Previous 30 day averages were 44 and 45 mpg. I'm driving a 2011 Volt -- the 2013 Volt which is being delivered now is about 4-5% more electrically efficient according to EPA.

 

If that was the reason you bought a Prius rather than a Volt, I am very sorry. I should have contacted you sooner.

 

Thanks, John and Jeff. I appreciate the corrections.

 

For the next 8-10 years, both the Volt and PIP batteries are FREE because of this cool thing called a warranty. The only person in this thread that should be worried about the cost of a replacement OEM traction battery is the OP should he or his aftermarket kit fry something.

 

I'm sure that Plug-In Supply is providing a replacement warranty for the PiP if something gets fried. I think that is the law if you modify the vehicle's emissions systems, like the hybrid drive.

 

Common sense should tell you the Volt's battery costs way more than $2600.00 Keep seeking the facts.

 

WE are talking about replacement cost (exchange/core typically required).

For another reference point, ReInvolt is charging $1875 for a re-manufactured pack, exchange required.

Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs

 

Current speculation is that is the cost for the exterior cases only. I recently watched a corporate video from Nissan who says they don't even have a price for their leaf battery as they only expect to sell individual cells.

 

I'm talking about the Toyota battery. I highly doubt PIS will warranty anything that isn't theirs .

From their website:

Plug-In Conversion System Warranty

Plug-In Supply provides a 3 year warranty on parts made by Plug-In Supply, a 2 year warranty on the lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells from the cell manufacturer, and a 1 year warranty on the charger from the charger manufacturer. This warranty does not cover the cost of labor to make repairs. If you do the conversion yourself, when your DIY plug-in hybrid conversion is complete you will have the same 3 year warranty that the factory-built systems have.

 

I was under the impression that any aftermarket products that modified the operation of a vehicle's emission system had to warranty the entire system, not just the aftermarket parts. On a hybrid, the HV battery and all the associated electrical components are considered part of the emissions system.

jim335, Did Ron address this issue as part of the installation ? Maybe you signed some kind of waiver for a DIY kit.

 

Don't worry, if they work for you, it'll be free (lol).

 

Pretty soon, you will exceed what GM originally said the Volt would get (230 mpg's). lol

 

That response was in the context of a public charging station, like a chargepoint station. The going rate for these stations seem to be $2.50/hr for each connection. $5/hr for two connections would be rather expensive for 5-10 miles of EV range.

I have an EV subscription for the public chargers around Austin, but I don't know if my subscription is limited to a single connection or not. I would expect it to be.

 

Just taking a friendly jab at ya'

 

The trick is matching the EV range to your particular driving pattern. Too much is not so much a penalty, but too little is.

GM used some research to arrive at 40 miles for EV and then designed around that. It happens to match my needs almost exactly, using 1 gallon of gasoline for 1400 miles in September. Would that be 1400 mpg ?

 

Please don't present incomplete facts. The price of lithium batteries clearly hasn't dropped anywhere near that much. The price quoted is subsidized, a nice benefit to consumers in need of replacement by not by any means representative of production cost.

 

Again, WE are discussing replacement costs.

I believe you have participated in several discussions on this topic before and the confusion you have contributed to may have caused jim335 to purchase a PiP and extra 4kwh kit when he would have purchased a Volt instead, his own statement.

 

Can we remove all the volt/prius back and forth from this thread and just focus on the PIS modification jim335 has done? And, the same with the replacement cost discussion of either a volt or a prius battery?

To summarize enough to hopefully to put all the volt/prius stuff to bed:

Both the prius and the volt seem to be good cars.

A prius is the choice for some people.
A volt is the choice for some people.
A car with a plug on it should be a choice for all people. (I couldn't resist.)

But, what I really want to see is the pictures from jim335's modification. I know the pictures PIS posted showing what it 'should' look like. And, I would love a way to use the standard charger port already in the prius to charge the new PIS batteries rather than an additional charger.

jim335: Would I be correct in assuming the additional charger does not have to be taken with the car when it is driven and it stays at home?