Hypothetical Hymotion L5 Priuschat Group Buy Poll

any updates?

 

ooo.....

 

We got our L5 in Fall 2008 and finally got around to the insurance issue.

Our agent changed the "symbol" on the car to increase the original value from about $25K to about $35K (for a 2007 Prius) which increased our insurance premium by about $50 for six months. For some specifics, below is a quote from the agent's email. These values may be specific to my agent, Grange Insurance or Ohio.

I also asked about the determining the value of the battery should it be damaged or destroyed and got this response from a claims supervisor (via the agent):

So, I need to find out from Hymotion (or A123 systems) what the Life expectancy is for the battery.

 

The irony of their big fat "NO" is this:

Here we are, a few months later & now there are other after-market plug in kits start at $4,995 ... plus, there are fly-by-nights selling plug in stuff right on ebay
eBay Motors: Toyota Prius Lithium Ion Hybrid Battery With Charger (item 320323870674 end time Jan-01-09 07:23:36 PST)
plus, money is tight, fuel is affordable, and car manufacturers are likely to be introducing something "WHOLE" ~ meaning factory direct ... warranty and all, in just a short time. That's a perfect recipie for hymotion stepping on their own crank, so to speek. Their back log of customers on a waiting list went 'POOF' just like that. Months ago, they could afford to say no. But now? I'm saying no, and waiting for something that may be factory direct.

 

We have investigated many of the other aftermarket plug-in kits. We were looking to see if we should also carry those plug-in kits for customers. For example, I would like to be able to offer a plug-in kit for the Ford Escape Hybrid and Camry Hybrid.

Frankly, none of the other plug-in kits are competitive with Hymotion's lithium 5 kwh battery. The plug-in kits that are cheaper are based on lead acid batteries and have a very short lifespan. The cheaper lead acid kits are also lower range. The other issue is lack of warranty and they have not been crash tested.

Hymotion is clearly a higher quality system so far. They have the largest installed base of 1,000+ plug-in Prius conversions.
I think most of the other plug-in kits have done only a few dozen at most.

Of the other lithium plug-in kits, they are typically more expensive per kwh and have a shorter lifespan. The nanophosphate lithium developed by A123 has the best duration for number of cycles (3,000+ cycles at 85% of original capacity).

This is just my opinion based on researching all of the options out there. Our location (The Green Car Company) looked into doing other kits. They don't compare.