Not a necessity but an easy and inexpensive way to increase your mpg's...especially in the colder months! Many threads on here about EBH's if you do a search on them...bottom line is it won't hurt your FE...can only increase it. I just picked one up a couple weeks ago...yet to install it but will have it installed as soon as I find someone to do it for me.
Is that all it does? If so, I'm not worried about sacrificing fuel economy by not having one. I was getting a little nervous that I needed one to even start the car on a cold morning. You know, kind of like the old Mercedes diesel cars where you had to plug them in overnight so that car would start! LOL
That IS all it does...but it's a nifty little add on if you're into getting better mpg's. It's not necessary to operate the vehicle but I highly recommend it...can pay for itself in just a few months in the winter!
Interestingly enough, the same question was raised just a couple of days ago in another thread (no offense, folks, but when you start a thread PriusChat provides a quick search result for you!). Politburo suggested that a 4-hour EBH use would cost about 18 cents. This was compared to an increase in FE from 30mpg to 50mpg for seven miles, which would cost 25 cents with gasoline at 25 cents. His post was in response to one from alevinemi who thought the EBH use would cost more money. I'll opt for Politburo's analysis, because alevinemi assumed 500 watts (the EBH is 400) for 16 hours (overnight, instead of the two hours I normally use) at a bit higher rate than I pay for electric service.
I wouldn't recommend running the EBH overnight...a few hours before departure is good enough to get up to temp. The FE increase from the EBH outperforms the cost of electricity to run the EBH...no question!
Not only that, but the next reasons are worth a recap: Helps reduce mechanical engine wear. Particularly in colder days. Significantly helps lower emissions since the typical warm-up fuel guzzling is reduced and the emissions hit is not as severe. Because of #2, the emission control systems will likely be longer lived. This includes O2 sensors, cat converters, etc. Improves oil viscosity which helps lower initial frictional losses - at least in times when the ICE has to run. This helps save even more fuel and reduces the need to dip into the battery pack for additional energy when accelerating. In the summer months I find 1-2 hours of plug-in time is enough. In the winter months I can have it plugged in for 6-8 hours before we start seeing diminishing returns. In the end it is all about the ambient temps. Cheers; MSantos
Self-install always is an option, but I'd look to FireEngineer for assitance, first. If he isn't able to come and do it himself, he'll give you very detailed instructions so you can do it on your own. (I held a wire for him and provided lunch, and I swear he thanked me for the entire event!) I doubt you'll find a dealer in the U.S. who is even familiar with the EBH for a Prius. Perhaps dealers in ND, MN, Northern WI, the UP, Upstate NY, but other than that you'd only find Canadian dealers who really know about it. Even then, it may be only the Canadian dealers who would do the installation (it is a Toyota Canada part).
For the common person...not an easy install. I have one in a box right now and I'm looking for someone to install it for me. Most guys do the install by lifting the car...you can do it from the top but it's a more difficult process. There's alot of threads on here on how to install it but it's not easy unless you are wrench-smart. At a dealer you would be paying the labor hourly rate...would just take longer to recoup the cost if you went that route.
I just completed the EBH installation on my Gen III yesterday. I was forced to approach the installation from above since I gave up trying to find the ramps in my messy garage. My preference would be to approach from the bottom up, less stuff to remove. The tricky part is to undo the bolt holding the clamp around the fixture right in front of the EBH hole and not losing it down into the engine compartment. A magnetic retriever is a must to retain the bolt from straying. Overall, not a difficult install for one who is mechanically inclined.
