TMC Introduces 'Prius Plug-in Hybrid' into Key Markets

maybe use the search function there are already several
with DIY owners or retail owners.

 

There are a few who do but the range is very limited. To have a pure electric only mode/car for around town driving (not above 52mph) I know I need to go more than 14 miles. Plug In Supply, Inc. offers a 10kw system that gets up to 50 miles per charge but I only get about 35 at best because I do not baby it, have some steep hills and have a natural lead foot (still working on it). Unlike other comercially offered plug in systems for the 04-09 Prius, you keep your spare tire. One of the best parts is the way it works; the Prius hybrid system and battery pack is left in place and at the push of a button, you're back to your factory system.

 

How many have you company installed? What are the company's plans for the 2010 Prius? What's the cost?

 

Two groups merged into one to make Plug-In Solutions, Inc. but in the last two years the group has produced over 100. We will be at the upcoming Go Green Expo in L.A. Jan. 22-24. The cost of our largest (most expensive) 10kW system installed is $11,900. The 2010 Prius has a different way the computer works (too detailed) and we are currently working on it but do not have a release date.

 

Ken,

Sorry for the delay. Yes, 10 kWh. Keeping the spare tire is something new we have worked out and has not yet been changed on the website (yes, it needs to be). The charger is in the cargo area. I do not get 50 miles per charge but I have a heavy foot with lots of hills here and I only got about 40-42 mpg at best in my former 2009 Prius (not a Plug-in). I only get around 35 miles per charge around town, stop and go, with hills which is still very good.

 

The spare tire now stays right where Toyota placed it.

 

zro, what is the charge cycle of your battery? Is it like the volt where you only charge to 80% and discharge to 30%? What is the usefull life (charges or years?) I think they use the very limited capacity to extend the life of the battery packs but I'm not sure. I would be very interested in adding a 4kwh-10kwh pack especially if it added some more acceleration.

 

Our discharge is 68.5% as is the Prius.
Cycle life is 3000 to 70% DOD.
The years depend entirely on the end user and how much they drive but 3000 is conservative.

If our discharge was 80%, the cycle life would be all the way down to 2000, so it's a very poor trade off.

Our systems are intended to greatly improve hybrids without stressing the vehicle, just simply tap into its’ real potential while remaining within the intended parameters of the existing hardware, Zero emissions or greatly reduced emissions are our focus. I also like to go fast and have our pure electric sports car conversions for that...sort of a green coated guilty pleasure.

 

Interesting!

Average cost of electricity in Québec: $0.0645/kWh
Current cost of gazoline in Québec: 1.10$/L

That means:
Gasoline-only mode: 27.8 km per dollar
Electric-only mode: 101.9 km per dollar

That is one of the factors that makes me hesitate a lot between buying now or waiting for the plug-in...

 

Ah yes ... jungle motors off Calle Perfecto. Been meaning to get down there to check the place out. Then I saw THIS thread:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-phev-plug-in-modifications/74196-problem-jungle-motors.html

Kind of hard thinking about a waranty when 'what-if' my PHEV system took a dump. I'd hope their good will has improved. Warranty on a NEW/FACTORY PHEV will be a bit safer, and that can count for a lot more than 'claims' about a conversion being better/cheaper.

CivicQc, there is nothing about your logic that one would call damnable. Many don't install PV solar for the same reason ... long 'pay-back' period. The pure economics are most important to some simply because the cash isn't there to be forward thinking about when 'pay-off' happens, years later. We are fortunate enough to have installed PV last year, and so our electric was (in essence) paid up front for the next 5 years. After that 'pay-back', it'll be free, in essence. So the PHEV or EV becomes even cheeper to operate for some.

We didn't make those decisions on economics. Our rational goes like this: One less dollar going out of the country for fuel, that keeps geting more & more scarce is a good thing. Plus, money going out of the country funds crazy/angry people seeking revenge because we meddle in other countries.



It's financially harder to go electric, and sure we don't have to ... but if/when we can keep our fossil fuel money here, crazy/angry people won't have our money to sponsor killing us ... plus they'll have one less reason to ... because we won't be over there. Couple that rant with fuel money being spent solely domestically ... and transportaion being much cleaner smog wise, it'll be a good thing. That logic won't cut it for some, but it does for us.

.

 

Note that I was referring to someone else's post and did the same calculations for our situation here. I just wanted to illustrate how much the cost ratio (electric vs gazoline) may vary from place to place across the world, as others have done before me, in this thread.