Just bought a 2009Prius last evening in San Diego. I currently work in Calgary, and am planning on bringing the Prius up to Alberta in about one year's time when my husband immigrates up there to join me. We are tempted to get one of the many PHEV plugin kits that are available installed in the Prius before heading up to Canada (ie. Hymotion or PluginSupply). Has any Canadian here tried this? I'm wondering if we would need to worry about any problems with passing the vehicle registration that will be required when we register it in Canada? I see the plugin as more of a 'non-modifying' add-on that doesn't disturb the original circuitry (I think the same argument used which is why cars with PHEV addons still qualify for Toyota warranty work), but I'm still worried about having the car PHEV modified only to have it rejected when we try to register it in Canada...
I am in Calgary as well. I will be converting my prius in May here in Calgary. I would be interested in talking more about your decision process.
I have an 09 Prius purchased in Vancouver. I am interested in the advantages of having the plug-in modification done in Canada or in US? Can we be sure that Toyota will honour the warranty if 3rd party installs the plug-in?
If your looking for a converstion in Vancouver, check out these guys. They have some success stories and were displayed at the car show recently. REV - Rapid Electric Vehicles Technologies Inc. Still $10-$15k for the job
I'm skipping converting the Prius to PHEV. My plan was to do in three years (two more years to pay off my 2006 G2). However, instead, I will recycle our "other" car, a 2006 Yaris, for a Mitsubishi iMIEV. I prefer a full electric car + a Prius, than doing a 15k$ + upgrade for the Prius that basically just makes it a NEV.