REVIEW: Hymotion Battery Plug-In Prius

[sparkyAZ]

Sweet! Thanks for the pictures and write-up, Jay!

I'm looking to do this as well sometime in the near future. I'd really like to get my hands on a Hymotion L5 to pop the lid and do a tear-down analysis of the electronics construction. I bet there are going to be some good hacks coming out once more people get this installed. Maybe a project for Mr. Hobbit....

[zcat3]

Thanks for posting this. I have my Hymotion placed and am scheduled for an install here in San Francisco in October.

Can you tell us a bit about your commute - distance, hills, highway miles, etc.? My commute is about 27 miles each way with several significant hill climbs and probably 70% highway speeds. I average around 49 MPG (hoping to break 50 soon) in what I would consider normal, non-aggressive mostly fast-lane driving (70 MPH plus on the freeway). I am hoping that my R/T mileage will be up near 90 - 100 with the Hymotion.

[TheForce]

Just a quick update.

I'm still working on the write up for my driving experience but I will give you some short updates on whats going on.

On my trip to work this morning I was able to pull out 137MPG with plenty of room to get that number higher. After work I went to a car show in all EV mode. The trip in all EV was about 5 miles. I still had plenty of juice left to pull a 100+MPG trip home but I was messing around with the pack and forgot I had it off. I was in EV mode and drained my stock battery. I still pulled in at home with about 90MPG on the ScanGauge.

The weather looks good on both Monday and Tuesday to do some tests. Monday I would like to do an all highway test and Tuesday I want to do an all EV test. More details about the test parameters when I get the results posted.

I have some videos of the SOC flicker and the brake lights that I will post with the driving updates.

Please keep the questions coming and I will try to answer them the best I can when I update my first post.

[DaveinOlyWA]

wtg Jay!!! sounds like its working as expected. definitely keep up posted on your performance numbers!!

[problemchild]

Wow

140,000 miles worth of fuel dollars in a stock car. I guess if you drive 75k+ miles per year it makes a little sense. But if you drive 12k per year its a lot of money and does not make any sense. It would be cool to get 100+mpg though. I hope the battery has a warranty of 10 years minimum.

[Zythryn]

Hmmm, you could say the same thing about a Lexus that costs $36,000.
Personally, for a combined cost (Prius plus battery mod) of $33,000 I find it a deal

Jay, thank you so much for the great information. I am supposed to get mine in early August (oops, it is the 16th, isn't it) so I am hoping to get it next week.
I appreciate the time and effort you put into bringing this information to us!

[jeffreykb]

Originally Posted by Zythryn

Hmmm, you could say the same thing about a Lexus that costs $36,000.
Personally, for a combined cost (Prius plus battery mod) of $33,000 I find it a deal

Jay, thank you so much for the great information. I am supposed to get mine in early August (oops, it is the 16th, isn't it) so I am hoping to get it next week.
I appreciate the time and effort you put into bringing this information to us!

I agree...the talk of justifying cost makes little sense. A used vehicle that gets good gas mileage has lowest cost of ownership. And yes...a Prius since the resale value is better than most other vehicles at the moment.

I doubt folks buying a much more expensive luxury brand vehicle justify their purchase on fuel cost...or even total cost of ownership. Even though the fundmental reasons are more than likely different...adding a Hymotion pack to a Prius is the same as someone modifying an OEM vehicle into a "HotRod". Both types of modifications are to increase performance. For cars, most people think of acceleration and speed when the term "performance vehicle" is mentioned.

I've seen guys spend more money "hotrodding" a car than buying Corvette would cost them. I suppose if the goal was to increase your AER (all electric range), someone could just buy a BEV. However, BEVs have a other significant performance limitations compared to a hybrid.

I'm very interested in the Hymotion mod...can not wait to hear more. It will be very interesting when Toyota releases their version of a Prius PHEV. Will the Toyota Prius PHEV perform "better" than a Hymotion Prius PHEV? Of course, Toyota could use A123 batteries also.

[DaveinOlyWA]

Originally Posted by problemchild

Wow

140,000 miles worth of fuel dollars in a stock car. I guess if you drive 75k+ miles per year it makes a little sense. But if you drive 12k per year its a lot of money and does not make any sense. It would be cool to get 100+mpg though. I hope the battery has a warranty of 10 years minimum.

justifying cost is really depends on your perspective. how do we determine the savings? i know a few people at work who now think that $3.85 for gas is a bargain because they paid $4.35 all summer,,,imm, unless gas goes to $2.30 a gallon, then its overpriced. now i say that because when i started driving my Pri in 2004, gas was about a $1.50. add inflation plus a little for good measure and gas should be 2.30... so now that payback is much shorter aint it?

we could also look at the plug in pack, if the commute is short enough, it would reduce his yearly "fuel" cost to under $150 a year. i have an EV, granted it a second car, but it still gets used daily. i have driven it over 4200 miles and have yet to spend $100 in electricity. but even with that savings, i will never recoup the cost of the vehicle...but who ever does?

lets compute the cost of an estimated 200,000 school aged children in the state of WA alone (not familiar with the stats of any other state) who have respiratory issues attributed to air pollution.

how about the 3-500,000 premature deaths in Cali due to air pollution?? what is the cost of that? and how much of that cost do we pay for? now if you do not live in Cali, the effect to you is less im sure, but most of these people who die probably do drain the federal budget a bit. health care services do charge different rates regionally, but there will be somewhat of an increase nationwide to support issues locally, so that will affect everyone here.

maybe the cost is not so bad after all?

[efusco]

If I were planning to keep my Prius more than another 2 years I'd also consider the pack...not to save money, but to save gas...the main reason I bought the car in the first place. I have to drive...but I want to do so using as little gas as possible b/c of the pollution it creates, the money it puts in the hands of terrorists and OPEC war lords and princes. I can afford gas for anything I want...the cost, for many of us, is not an issue. But saving gas, using less gas and oil and reducing our need for fossil fuels is key and is worth spending money on.

[SureValla]

its funny how 90 mpg is bad now for him