125 mpg Prius?

It was probably one of either of these:

http://www.hymotion.com/

http://www.edrivesystems.com/index.html

 

Or it might have been this:
http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6064470.html?tag=vid
This is a news clip on an event called Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA, in which a technician is interviewed about a modification replacing the original hybrid battery with a battery that you have the option of plugging in to a regular 120-volt outlet to add capacity, and, hence, mileage. They say it can be done in under a week of work for under $3000. It's available only for 2004 and later model years. The spokesperson's name is Felix Kramer, an engineer, and he refers to a website called calcars.org, which has a lot more info. Interesting!

 

Or it might have been this:
http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6064470.html?tag=vid
This is a news clip on an event called Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA, in which a technician is interviewed about a modification replacing the original hybrid battery with a battery that you have the option of plugging in to a regular 120-volt outlet to add capacity, and, hence, mileage. They say it can be done in under a week of work for under $3000. It's available only for 2004 and later model years. The spokesperson's name is Felix Kramer, an engineer, and he refers to a website called calcars.org, which has a lot more info. Interesting!

 

Listening to other boards complaining of the cost of the prius tack on an additional 10k, would turn the would be buyers over to Honda..

Then you have to have someone wire in the 120 outlet into the garage or carport... then your power bills gonna go up... As the fuel prices climb - your power bill climbs, nothing in life is free except air,wind, sunlight, darkness & rain..

So you get this stuff for 10k, and void your vehicles warranty you start pulling out toyota parts replacing them with another product and somthing happens your in the ringer and it will com out of your pocket..

If you wait until the warranty is expired and you spend the 3k-10k to modify your prius with this kit ... good luck there bubba...

 

Here's a pic of an EDrive prototype at one of OC Prius meetups.

 

If you have to plug in your hybrid, doesn't that defeat the purpose of owning a hybrid? MPG bragging rights aside, I am not sure if electricity generation from power plants is zero emission

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(busyrosy @ Apr 29 2006, 12:31 PM) [snapback]247198[/snapback]</div>

You know this is my thought exactly........ If you want an EV buy an EV, You want a hybrid buy a hybrid
One of the biggest selling points of the hybrid is you dont have to plug it in the EV'ers seem to be the ones pushing the greatness since the EV alone vehicles take two steps forward then one back. I guess it makes sence to intergate longer EV into the hybrid vehicle...

It does make sence to use less fuel, but your still using fuel in a round about way ie the electricity is made via using fuels...

The ultamate goal here is to sell a good product, we just try and make it better B)

 

As others have said, it doesn't seem practical to increase your electric bill by ~$50 a month to do this. It would be unlikely to save $50/mo in gas (it would probably save you $50 -- or two fill-ups -- every 2-3 months, I'd guess), so it's a losing proposition.

Something like this would also likely only be useful for short trips. This is probably a big part of the reason its MPG ratings are so high -- it replaces the 5-10mpg first five minutes we see with 100+ mpg.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gippah @ Apr 29 2006, 03:54 PM) [snapback]247261[/snapback]</div>

Im sure you all have read the thread regarding the 08-09 prius getting 110 mpg. If you check the stats youll find the tests where done on japanese controled test track, with speeds that never topped 45mph thats how they recieved such high mileage..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gippah @ Apr 29 2006, 03:54 PM) [snapback]247261[/snapback]</div>

Im sure you all have read the thread regarding the 08-09 prius getting 110 mpg. If you check the stats youll find the tests where done on japanese controled test track, with speeds that never topped 45mph thats how they recieved such high mileage..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gippah @ Apr 29 2006, 03:54 PM) [snapback]247261[/snapback]</div>

Im sure you all have read the thread regarding the 08-09 prius getting 110 mpg. If you check the stats youll find the tests where done on japanese controled test track, with speeds that never topped 45mph thats how they recieved such high mileage..

 

Let us remember that you can drive a stock 04 and get 110 mpg, without the extra battery etc. If the cost of the extra battery can be brought down it may be a good idea if you have a green power source to plug into. Remember the first thing the Prius is for is to decrease emissions! High mpg is only part of the picture. Gas will go up and the point where a plug in hybrid will make a difference may yet come. The hybrid is a bridge technology to a even lower emission greener world.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Apr 30 2006, 06:52 AM) [snapback]247289[/snapback]</div>

The hybrid is not just a bridge technology. It is a base technology platform.
Remember the Toyota's fuel cell system is called FCHV, Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle.

Ken@Japan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ken1784 @ Apr 29 2006, 08:31 PM) [snapback]247420[/snapback]</div>

Yup, you just cannot get enough power as immediately out of Fuel-cells as you can out of batteries. Can you deal with a long warm-up while driving Hydrogen? The electrical/battery part is where most of the power will come from reliably and at a controllable rate, so hybrids are future-tech now with only changes in the power-plant.

 

haha

 

Does it mention the estimated lifespan of the new battery? Simple logic would lead me to believe that because it is being relied on more, it is going to need to be replaced sooner. Maybe this is not the case?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(busyrosy @ Apr 29 2006, 11:31 AM) [snapback]247198[/snapback]</div>

If emissions concern you, it looks like your not including the considerable amount of electricity that is required to convert crude oil into fuel (gasoline or deisel). It's very easy to forget about the upstream costs and emmisions to get gasoline to the pump. Also, the energy(and emissions) required to ship the crude from Saudi to the US.

For the most part, electricty generated in the US, mostly comes from US sources (coal, nuclear, gas). Power plants are much more efficent than ICE's. So more reliance on the electric grid reduces dependance on foriegn oil and reduces total emissions.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Apr 29 2006, 12:57 PM) [snapback]247229[/snapback]</div>

That sound great, what dealership sells EV's? Mind you, I don't really have the time to build one myself.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Apr 29 2006, 12:57 PM) [snapback]247229[/snapback]</div>

And the fuels are made using electricity! See previous post.

 

Aren't the Hymotion and EDrive systems additional "booster" Li Ion packs? Basically, an additional battery pack (with its associated hardware and software) tucked away in the cargo area and tied into the existing system.

My understanding is that there are limitations as to how that extra energy can be used (speed and pedal command), but once the Li Ion pack is depleted, the regular operation of the hybrid Prius resumes like every other Prius. When you plug in, you only charge the Li Ion pack.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(killian @ May 2 2006, 10:37 PM) [snapback]248945[/snapback]</div>

Unfortunately, you'd need to drive 6,000 charges not 6,000 miles. That's far longer than I could reasonably expect to drive any car and I strongly suspect longer than the set of batteries would last.

The real economic calculus would be something like this: The batteries will maintain a reasonable amount of their charge for 2,000 cycles (hopefully). If you did one cycle every day, that would be about 5.5 years. And in that 5.5 years, you would save $2 on each of those cycles, giving the system a total value of $4,000, and a present value of about $3,300 (assuming that you could make 4% interest on a five year CD with $3,300 in it).

I might buy it anyway, but it certainly wouldn't be economically justifiable - I would be doing it because I like having the advanced technology - you would have to be a hyper early adopter to want this system at a price of $12,000.

One thing would be certain - every mile I drove using electricity would cost me less and pollute less than any mile I drove using gasoline. A smug cloud would follow me wherever I went.

 

haha