More Details and Photos Released for Prius Plug-In

[CivicQc]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

What would be cool is if the PHEV also powers an electric heater =). Say a small secondary battery that can power the electric heater (so it doesn't impede on HV performance) to heat up the cabin. Or a powerful enough HV battery to do both.

That would indeed be cool - however in cold areas (such as here ) the amount of heat required to keep the cabin warm is enormous. My sister had an electric cabin heater, a kind of hair dryer (1000 watts) that you would plug in an hour before leaving home in the morning, that was supposed to warm up the cabin. In cold weather (e.g. -20C and lower), the heater on for half an hour, the cabin was still very cold, perhaps just a few degrees above outside.

I have not done any calculations, but I believe a sufficiently powerful electric heater would just drain the battery too rapidly. A propane or natural gas heater would probably be a better idea for very cold countries.

[hampdenwireless]

Originally Posted by CivicQc

I have not done any calculations, but I believe a sufficiently powerful electric heater would just drain the battery too rapidly. A propane or natural gas heater would probably be a better idea for very cold countries.

There is a good deal of heat from the inverter if that can be brought into the cabin maybe around 300W. Its not enough to heat the cabin but its free heat.

[drees]

Originally Posted by CivicQc

My sister had an electric cabin heater, a kind of hair dryer (1000 watts) that you would plug in an hour before leaving home in the morning, that was supposed to warm up the cabin. In cold weather (e.g. -20C and lower), the heater on for half an hour, the cabin was still very cold, perhaps just a few degrees above outside.

I have not done any calculations, but I believe a sufficiently powerful electric heater would just drain the battery too rapidly. A propane or natural gas heater would probably be a better idea for very cold countries.

1000w is nothing.

The Tesla has a 3kW heater.

It takes about 15kW just to maintain a steady 60mph, so at full blast, the heater will reduce your range by about 17%. Not too bad for extreme cold.

[matrix_uam]

Hi,

I have found Miscrms´s reply quite interesting. If the problem looks to be battery technology and battery cost, why can´t automakers sell a car with upgradeable battery kits? So we can decided how much we want to pay in order to get EV extra miles. Also in the near future we will see battery price fall and battery technology improve so we can just upgrade our battery instead of getting a complete new car.