Another plug-in Prius manufacturer

Interesting. As you say looks like a very clean install... I wonder what it would/will costs. For me this would reallty cut down my gasoline consumption so I want one!

 

I don't know that much about the batteries but it's presumed that, eventually, a smaller, lighter and more powerful battery will come along so that, at the very least, I could swap the old for the new. However, one of the reasons why I got the Prius was that it could, conceivably, be modified so this is welcome news.

 

From HyMotion's website: HyMotion.com
60km range w/ zero fuel consumption below 55 km/h
100mpg
battery capacity: 5kWh w/ 5.5 hour charge time

[Broken External Image]:http://hymotion.com/images/PHEV02.jpg

 

Cool! Now we just need to find out how much they're charging for this!

 

Am I reading this right?.... the normal prius NiMH battery is 28 hp (21 kW) http://www.toyota.com/prius/specs.html

The LiON battery is only 5.5kwh? http://hymotion.com/products/HySpecs_PHEV_L5.pdf
and the Ford one is 12.5kwh? http://hymotion.com/products/HySpecs_PHEV_L12.pdf

So the battery we presently have in the prius already has 4 times the capacity of this 5.5kwh battery?.. that would suck really bad?... Isn't this supposed to be an upgrade?

Even the one for the Ford is 1/2 capacity of that of our present prius...

What am I missing here?.. surely I'm overlooking something obvious... otherwise, lets take down the ribbons for the celebration and insteaed put up the posters to protest the funny joke?

So how Is the NiMH battery really rated?...is 28 hp (21 kW) only for a quick burst or for an hour?

 

kW and kWH are completely different units of measure. Kind of like comparing miles to miles-per-hour.

What we need is a kWH rating for the Prius battery.

Nate

 

greencarcongress.com states that the Prius has a 1.5 kWh battery pack. This puts the hymotion pack at almost four times that.

Nate

 

Plus, the range of charge that the Hymotion batter pack uses may be different than the main Prius pack. Remember, the Prius only uses about 40% of the overall battery range in order to maximize battery life. If the Hymotion pack can accept wider charge/discharge cycles without suffering earlier failure (that's a big IF), it could provide more range than just comparing kWh between packs would do.

- Bob R.

 

Alas, at the bottom of their page:

Well, it testing is better then not existing. I like this system better then edrive because it is an add-on and leaves the original battery intact. Don't know about drilling a hole in my exterior for the plug, though.

 

I agree.... this is a very interesting system but many questions remains (I think I will contact them). It seems to sit "on top of" the normal Prius batteries which would be interesting. But how do they interface with the Prius SW? Hpw many charges will it take etc? It will be interesting to see if they get some fleets to sign-up!

My car is too new for modification right now (<2 months) but I'm hoping that a system like this will be available within 3 years. That would be soo cool! Every day it looks more and more possible!

 

The prius pack is 1.5 kwh, but you only get to play with about
600 wh of that. And that's from all-green down to two pink bars,
which you rarely see. From nominal 6-blue-bars at 60% SOC down
to the Prius' idea of "empty", it's only about 300 wh. Which is
why, at a nominal 250 wh/mile EV usage rate, you only get a mile
or a mile and a half on the battery if you're lucky.
.
_H*

 

I called Hymotion and they indicated the price currently is $9500. This for fleet purchase only. Not for the consumer. They hope within a year or two to have a consumer priced version for about $4000 to $5000.

No changes to the Prius would be required. The additional battery would merely connect in parallel to the already existing Prius battery. More capacity is what is being accomplished. The charging system for this battery would be a plug-in into 110/220 volts.

Once the Hymotion battery module has been depleted of its charge the Prius will resume normal operation with its own battery and gasoline engine. The MFD battery charge indication will constantly show the state of the charge and will return back to normal Prius battery operation after the Hymotion battery is depleted. The user will then see the normal charge of the Prius battery as normally seen. They are still in discussion with the manufacturer (in Asia) for warrenty specifics. I spoke with Mr. Anthony Wei of the Boston office.

Cheers

 

People seem to think that a larger fraction of LiIon capacity can be used and still retain longevity. I've read 60 - 80%, although I don't think long term data is available to say for sure yet.

Even if the quoted 5.5 kWh is useful capacity, that works out to 5.5/.2 = 27 miles, less than the 60 km stated. Still quite respectable, but less.

 

The doc claims that the Hymotion pack can charge from the hybrid
system as well as the wall. Which is right? Can it, say, suck up
an entire mountain's descent into the Li pack, or does it simply
cut itself out of the picture once its wall-charge is depleted?
.
This, if I recall, is the same problem with the EnergyCS system --
once your plug-in charge is gone, you're back to a stock Prius until
you get to a plug again. Surprise me, someone...
.
Given the shape of the Hy unit, where does it sit? It looks like
it's designed to occupy the seekrit luggage compartment *and* the
space normally taken by the spare tire.
.
_H*

 

I'm researching runflats now!

Nate

 

Wow! This is GREAT news. Not only are they hoping to price it at the range I'm willing to pay(!) they also have a Boston office.... Man this is some great news...

Their idea seem simpler then calcars... the prius will not charge this battery (it seems) so the extra battery is simply an paralell add-on (with some magic to make the display look happy). To be honest I'm sure Toyota designed the cars for EXACTLY this. That secret storage compartment is too good to be true combined with the EV switch. I'm sure they built the prius for this but run into some kind of trouble getting the battery to market. It could likley be the price but maybe also performance questions and/or battery life-time questions.

It seems like John1701a are right and their will be Li-Ion modules available for this car. If this is true the resale value would be boosted!

It's a cool time to own a Prius!

 

Yeah, I'm sure their marketing has fudged the numbers somewhat... But 60 kilometers is 38 miles... say you can squeese 30 out of this battery (and then another 1-2 out of the Prius one) and you are relativley close.

 

Yes, You would loose your spare tire it seems. I could love with that. For my normal commute I would simply call roadside assistance anyway. For longer travel you might be able to simply take out the battery compartment and but the spare back (no need to use the battery for longer trips?)

 

Initially, Hymotion is offering the PHEV upgrade in two models: the 5kWh L5 for the Prius and the 12kWh L12 for the Ford hybrid SUVs. This innovation is not cheap, so the company is targeting fleet buyers before individual consumers. In quantities greater than 100, the Prius L5 is US $9,500; quantities over 1,000 drop the price to US $6,500. No word yet on the pricing for the Ford models, but since it's more than twice as powerful, it will carry an even higher price tag.

-- taken from www.treehugger.com

All we need is a 1000 people to bulk buy. Anyone interested?