Prius PHEV conversion now $4,995

[clett]

"PlugIn Supply unveiled its PbA10 Conversion System last week at the Plug-in 2008 conference in San Jose. The PbA10 Conversion System, based on the CalCars Open Source design, turns a standard 2004-2008 model year Prius into a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) with an all-electric range of 10-15 miles and improved average mileage of up to 100 miles per gallon (plus 1 cent/mile of electricity)."

Green Car Congress: Plug-In Supply Inc. Introduces Lead-Acid PHEV Prius Conversion System for $4,995

"The conversion system uses a 5 kWh pack comprising new extended life lead-acid batteries (more than 800 cycles) for better battery longevity than was previously available. The system is designed to permit an upgrade to lithium iron phosphate batteries with an all electric range of 15-20 miles as costs for these longer range batteries decline. Maximum speed in all-electric mode is 52 mph."

[efusco]

I like the idea here...360lbs of Pb Acid batteries is quite a turn off to me, but the ability to later convert to Li with the same components is nice. The Pb Acid act as a holding place.

The price is fairly reasonable, I think. The guy that did the talk about his converson at Hybridfest came up with costs right at $5000. I figure I could do it for $4000 since I already have Can-View.

[PriusSport]

What's hot right now is running your diesel on a mixture of used veggie oil and diesel.
Or doing the $2K conversion to mainly veggie oil. Old Mercedes diesels run perfectly on used oil. Restaurants have never been in such demand for their garbage. No problem getting rid of their oil these days. You do have to filter it before putting it in your car. I've talked to some people who are doing this, and it's much more widespread than reported in the media.

[clett]

@ Priussport,
This trick is very common in Europe, although with many specific models there is no need to modify the vehicle in any way to run it on straight vegetable oil (ie no need to convert to biodiesel, and no need for tank warmers or line heaters at all, just straight into the main tank at 100% SVO and off you go).

I ran my old Astra on this in the summer months with no problems (starting is harder in the colder months, so most people, including me, switch back to diesel while a handful get the conversions done to keep running on SVO through the winter).

[hill]

We have a couple of folks here at Disney who run veggie / frenchfry grease in their MB's. They get the oil for free, from the resteraunts, but they both expect to get cut off any day now. But a year or two ago? The park was GLAD that someone would take oil off their hands as it has to be disposed of (not any more now though, due to demand) as toxic waste. But as of last year, they began running the waste oils in their choo choos to fire their boilers.

Kind of a funny thought isn't it? The trains go by, with the aroma of frenchfrys? Actually, it just smells generic.

[Flying White Dutchman]

maybe start a groupbuy for this 4995 pack and get it down to..? 3850?

[Derek]

This is great news! Still gives me hope in pursuing a gently used Prius after the Gen III hits. A group buy would be an option for all of us to consider. Definitely something worth pursuing. Veggie oiled Choo choos haha.

[orracle]

Originally Posted by efusco

I like the idea here...360lbs of Pb Acid batteries is quite a turn off to me, but the ability to later convert to Li with the same components is nice. The Pb Acid act as a holding place.

The price is fairly reasonable, I think. The guy that did the talk about his converson at Hybridfest came up with costs right at $5000. I figure I could do it for $4000 since I already have Can-View.

George's costs were at $5000 because he did the labor himself. At a Milwaukee group meet he handed out flyers from the company where he got the kit and it was over $6000 when you throw in labor.

[Flying White Dutchman]

from Plug-In Supply Inc of Petaluma California

San Jose, July 21, 2008 – Plug-In Supply, Inc. unveiled the world’s first Prius Conversion System priced at $4995.

[miscrms]

Originally Posted by PriusSport

What's hot right now is running your diesel on a mixture of used veggie oil and diesel.
Or doing the $2K conversion to mainly veggie oil. Old Mercedes diesels run perfectly on used oil. Restaurants have never been in such demand for their garbage. No problem getting rid of their oil these days. You do have to filter it before putting it in your car. I've talked to some people who are doing this, and it's much more widespread than reported in the media.

Problem with that is an 80s diesel on SVO may be low carbon, but its incredibly dirty in pretty much every other sense. From the data I've seen BD reduces emissions by ~1/2 (other than NOx) but SVO has no appreciable emissions reduction (other than maybe sulfur). Add to that you can't run SVO in most newer cleaner diesels, you generally have to run it in the oldest (and consequently dirtiest) models.

For example the 1989 190d, one of the smallest Mercedes diesels stacks up against a 2006 Jetta Tdi like this:

1989 Mercedes 190d vs. 2006 Jetta Tdi
CO: 1.2 vs. 0.04 (30X or 2900% higher)
NOx: 0.74 vs. 0.31 (2.4X or 139% higher)
HC: 0.3 vs. 0.0198 (15.2X or 1451% higher)
PM: 0.14 vs. 0.046 (3X or 205% higher)

And personally I consider the '06 Jetta a pretty dirty car. Here's the 190d versus the Prius:

1989 Mercedes 190d vs. 2004+ Prius
CO: 1.2 vs. 0.1 (12X or 1100% higher)
NOx: 0.74 vs. 0.01 (74X or 7300% higher)
HC: 0.3 vs. 0.009 (33.3X or 3233% higher)
PM: 0.14 vs. 0 (???? (>14X) higher)

I'm all for reducing CO2 emissions and petroleum consumption, but for me 12-74 times more air pollution is not a good trade. It may cost more, but I still see a plugin conversion charged on renewable energy as a much better path to zero carbon emissions w/o the air quality penalty. Its also a much more scalable solution. There are only so many gallons of fry grease and so many old mercedes diesels available. After that virgin biofuels become much more expensive and polluting, and less carbon neutral compared to electrics run on renewables.

Rob