HybridAutomotive.com Charger Impressions

When my wife and I moved back to the US from Honduras just over two years ago, we bought two 2005 Prii from Todd at Tampa Hybrids. Jeff's system was pretty new at the time. Todd (who is THE most stand up dealer I've ever met), recommended we get our own grid charger rather than bring the cars to him for service since we had two Prii. That was some of the best advice I ever followed. I've been doing 2-3 full reconditions per year with occasional charges in between. I think, to make it simpler to track, I'll plan from now on to do the full treatment at every other oil change, with just a charge on the ones in between. Even though I charge the batteries fairly often, I do notice a considerable difference in performance and mileage. Great product, Jeff. I just wish I could afford the automatic discharger. Since I work a four day week, I get three day weekends allowing me to do the full reconditioning without too much trouble. I just have to schedule other activities around it.

 

Thanks for the great review. Can we put this on our FB page/website? Regarding the discharger comments, I hear you 110%. You'll be pleased to hear we are hard at work on a new low cost consumer grade automated discharger which is scheduled to be released around Christmas . Stay tuned for more info

 

You say this like it is a bad thing.

Together with the other information you gave, I'd say that you battery is in not too bad shape. Just drive the car as much as possible, Prii hate sitting around.

If you can arrange your drive to avoid being in traffic jams (if this happens on a regular basis), then do that. While a Prius can handle the occasional gridlock with aplomb, being stuck in them on an ongoing basis is best avoided, if possible.

 

I have two aging Priis and would consider getting on board with one of these with a low cost auto discharger.

The cost of the current model turned me away and I don't want to fool around with light bulbs

 

Man, I can tell you that it gets both extremes. Mainly because of doctor recommendations (asthma), I can't risk any more cycling in traffic unless I want a nebuliser at home. So, a dumb 2 mile drive, uphill, every day. The engine hardly gets warm enough. I'm aware of the danger of cells going "stale" and falling out of balance, many times did it lie up for weeks and months on end with nothing more than a stationary start up.

On the flip side on every other weekend, there's a road trip with friends. Last time was Northern Ireland for cheap, Brexited food and drink, a few times up sallygap, and this week to the far west of Ireland... I think I've done 2800 miles on Trip.A since August... don't tell my insurance. At least I hope that's better for the pack than lying still.

 

I would be honored to be quoted by you. Thanks. And I will for sure keep my eyes peeled for your new discharger.

 

OK, I'll bite (pun intended). What's Brexited food?

 

All of our products are backwards compatible, so you are able to upgrade to any of our new items. If you did decide to purchase the consumer discharger, it will work with your existing car harness and charger, no new installation required. It's functionally the same as the two-bulb light bulb discharger, just does not require nearly as much user oversight.

 

Jeff, I wonder if Ed's referring to the fact that you have a harness for charging only and a harness for doing both and he's concerned about having to take out the charge only harness and buy the discharge ready version and put it in.

But I do see that you offer an upgrade kit to make your basic harness discharge ready, which is a nice touch. But I didn't find instructions on your site. Just how deeply does one need to dive back into the car to install the upgrade?

 

@fotomoto At the time of that trip the Little Englanders brought their pound to roughly €1.10. Now that makes it a lot cheaper for us to buy in the north! There's estimates going around that 25% of households will drive up to border towns in NI for Christmas.

 

.

 

Ahh, that sounds very familiar. In my youth, it was quite common to cross the Mexican border just to eat very cheaply but things have greatly changed over the years.

 

Sorry, I had forgotten - you did originally have the Standard harness. Those are designed for younger cars with healthy hybrid batteries. The Discharge Ready conversion kit (that you later installed) is a one time installation to convert the harness to support battery discharging. It does require reopening the hybrid battery compartment. Now that you have converted yours, you are done. You won't have to convert it a second time.

For any car over 4-5 years old, we recommend the Discharge Ready car harness. Here is an explanation of the different versions of our products:
What is the difference between the Standard and Discharge Ready Prolong Battery Charger systems? - Hybrid Automotive