How much would you pay for a 30 mile EV mode?

I voted for $0 - $2000, but I am at the lower end of that range. I think your steps are way too agressive.

Personally... I would be happy up to about $1000. Your second range is 2000 - 4000 is not accurately described. It is not in line with leather or nav. Nav is under 2000, and leather is under 1200 if I remember right.

Also... even at $1000 I'm not sure that the higher cost would ever be recouped. It would be a fun option to have though.

/Jim

 

I would like the extended EV and would even pay something over the break even level, but not in the range of 1/2 of the car price. I need some hope of recouping the investment. Many would argue that I will not do even that for the present Prius I am betting that gas prices will continue to rise and I will do better than break even

 

This would definately suit my needs for a 2 miles (each way) commute. But the cost would have to be something on the affordable side so I shot for the lower end price range.

 

I would pay up to $2K for the option to go 30miles on a plug in.

 

I went with the $2000-3999 - I think I could be convinced to buy a factory option for about $3k. I don't think I'd pay much at all for a possibly warranty voiding aftermarket option - but I'm actually hopeful that continued research into batteries will 'soon' yield a big drop in price, for both manufacturers and aftermarketers.

 

Assuming this is for a plugin hybrid and the cost includes the charger, I voted in the 4-6k range. If it was available tomorrow I would opt for a base model Prius and forego the nav sys, bluetooth, jbl stereo, HID and all just to have this option. We're talking zero emissions here, the potential for solar charging and silent running for 90% of our driving if Toyota can provide a 50 mile range. Some of this can't be calculated in fuel savings alone, though I suspect that over the life of the car that number will improve dramatically. Figure average 150 mpg. Imagine actually being concerned about the gas going stale . The car should outlast me given the low hours accrued on the ICE. I'd go for this in a heartbeat.

 

The charger would most definitely be onboard. In fact (surprise!) it is already there in the car you are driving today. It is how your brakes regenerate for you. EVERY production EV was originally designed to have on-board charging, and most of the cars began their production lives in that way. Off-board chargers were later "created" for political and profit reasons, unfortunately. Otherwise, the car makers would not make any money on infrastructure... all you'd need is an outlet instead of a proprietary device that costs many thousands of dollars.

Very good points! I tend to squirm a bit when I hear about "pay back" and all that. Same argument that the anti-hybrid folks like to use against hybrids. "I'll never get my money back for the hybrid premium." Well, there are some things more important than money. How much is it worth to you to not have tuneups or oil changes (or at least much-reduced service visits)? To not have to stop off at the gas station on the way to or from work in the dark/cold/heat/rain? To not pollute your attached garage? To stick it to the oil industry? To know you are increasing the security of your country by not using foreign energy?

 

"Charger already installed" Some of it is. I don't believe there is 120VAC onboard the Prius. I don't know what the characteristics of the electricity that MG2 generates. When people understand that the equivalent cost of grid electricty is 15-50 cents per gallon of gas and the pay back period will decrease as the price of gas increases ( there is talk now of $100/barrel for oil, the demand for the car will be unbelievable.

 

The comments I've heard over the years is that $3,000 is the cutoff for a reasonable battery-pack upgrade price. Higher than that just causes interest to rapidly fade away.

In fact, how much it costs ranks quite a bit higher than the EV range... which is very misleading in the first place, since EV and Stealth limitations having no baring on the improvement provided for Highway efficiency.

From the beginning, Prius was marketed based on a future mass-production price that a majority of consumers would be willing to pay. Toyota intentionally avoided maximum performance due to the cost factor being too great of a concern. Those now experimenting with higher capacity battery-packs are not. They're completely ignoring price and focusing solely on achieving the highest MPG possible. That is helping to establish a misconception that electric augmentation is only available for a extreme amount of money (half the price of the vehicle itself). Is that really something we should encourage?

 

Nice poll !

To put $$ signs on the question -- An EV mile costs about 4 cents less than a petrol mile. If we assume all electric driving of about 15K miles a year, $600 a year is saved.

Amazing actually, that we can even consider practical payback time scales for such a cutting edge technology.

 

Not unless it starts working at higher speeds.
50 MPH is absolute minimum, but 80 MPH is desirable.

 

If the car can go 80MPH on electric-only, it should be an electric car, not a hybrid.

Electric motors are less efficient at highway speeds while ICE is most efficient at highway speeds. If you had an engine onboard, why would you not use it when it's more effective? The electric motors can be used to assist, as in the Prius, and give greater range and power than electric only.

The speed limitation in our Prius goes to the power split device and maxium speeds the MGs can spin. The electric-only vehicles are designed differently to go faster, since of course they're missing an engine. Hauling the engine around would be a lot of extra weight if you only intend to use it for emergencies or cross country trips.

A plug in hybrid should't be an electric-only vehicle.

 

I agree. I think it should be both to work with everyones needs. I would like to get a BEV but then I would have to worry about shipping it to me. If I move I would have to ship it again.

I would save up some money for a BEV but the shipping part is what is making me have second thoughs. If I could figure out something on that I would get a BEV as soon as I could for many reason beyond the gas savings.