Japan Certifies Toyota Plug-in Hybrid for Public-road Tests

Ceric- thanks for the picture- I can just see that flowery graphic tooling around Irvine, CA (NOT).

Actually I wonder if anybody has a contact at UCIrvine so our OC Prius Club could talk to them when they get it. ????

 

This Plug-in HV weights about 100 lbs more. It does look like it is a Prius with additional HV pack. The peak power is 134 hp instead of the current 110 hp. This confirms my prior conjecture that the Prius PHEV will be faster!

62 MPH EV mode is possible without any change in PSD because MG1 will be spinning at 9,548 RPM which is below 10k RPM that MG1 is capable of. This might be just a software upgrade to remove the limitation.

Edit: I saw the video. It is the 04' MY Prius. They plug-in and recharge the battery into where the gas cap is! Where and how would you fill in the gas then? I am assuming Japanese Prius normally fill in gas in the driver (right) side.

The MFD also shows the two bars. It might be AMP and SOC. Ken, please confirm all those new stuffs on the MFD.

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/environmen...riving_300k.asx

 

Great news. Make sure you check out the video. Nice to see what a factory job will look like. The MFD screen is great. I would assume two "gas" cap spots, one on each side of the car. You have now seen the future. How long to get to my local showroom? I would take it as is. But would love to see a solar panel on the roof of the car. I hope Toyota can give some sort of Japanese version of EPA milage numbers in the near future. When they come out people will go bonkers; I predict 80 mpg at least. Hackers take note, your conversions need to get the EV speed up to 62.

 

It just hit me. If Prius PHEV can go 62 mph in electric alone, you can P&G at higher speed. Thanks to the more powerful twin battery pack, you can maintain at that speed if you wish. It might not work as well as 41mph P&G due to the high wind resistance at 62mph but the limited speed will be higher.

 

I got a quick look on the cnn website. The video made the prius look longer which at first I thought it was a new model. I guess this will be standard for the 2010 model?

 

Can they get this into the '09?

If so, give me 2!

 

Ken,

What is the max speed in the 10-15 Japanese test cycle?

Edit: Found the answer. Max is 43.5 mph and average is 14.8 mph.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(inventor00 @ Jul 25 2007, 09:53 AM) [snapback]484628[/snapback]</div>

In Lake Forest, I'm about a 30 minute walk from the Irvine Amtrack station. I often see UCI's Rav-4 EV's parked there (big stickers on the side labeled, ( 'ZEVnet' ) ). Chances are the PHEV's will spend equal amounts of time parked there. When you here they've arrived on campus, check by the train station and leave a note on the car(s) ... or even on their "ZEVnet Rav4 EV's. The drivers have always been more than willing to talk about their vehicles with me. I'll be on the lookout myself.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(des101 @ Jul 24 2007, 10:08 PM) [snapback]484542[/snapback]</div>

Well said. Good point about computers/laptops/PDA/DVD recorders/Cell phone "toys" that we all have now that did not, and COULD not have started out at the consumer level.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoDosch @ Jul 25 2007, 05:07 AM) [snapback]484600[/snapback]</div>

Ah, I see. Yes, of course that is true. The issue I have with that thinking is that it *seems* to imply that BEVs need to be able to have gasoline-car range to be a good replacement for ICE vehicles. (and I know from your next comment that this is not you feeling!) One point I try to make is that we sure don't want to sit around doing nothing just because BEVs can't replace all of our gasoline miles. What if a BEV can only replace 90% of them, like they do in my case? I say that's a pretty compelling reason to have them availalbe. If we turn this around, ICE cars absolutely SUCK for short-distance and commute driving. All the oil changes, the stops at the gas station before or after work, the pollution in our garage as we start up, etc... But we still keep buying those inferior-for-the-job ICE cars because we're so used to them!

No worries. I'm not out to attack anybody with this stuff! I get carried away and sometimes I offend, or sound like I'm talking down to others. Sounds like we're on the same page, and after the same goal. I just wanted to make sure there was no confusion about the state of battery cars.

Oh, we'll be reliant on gasoline for longer than I care to think about. But with the technology that we've had for 20 years, we could completely stop importing oil for our thirsty cars. I have the Prius because I'm lazy and vain. The Prius is used almost exclusively for "non-mandatory" road trips. Meaning vacations, pleasure, etc. I'll tell you what - with a 200-mile EV that can be plugged in anywhere, I simply will not need a liquid-fueled car, and will sell it in an instant. So me having a Prius today does not actually PROVE that I need gasoline, it is a byproduct of the fact that we don't have modern EVs available!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clett @ Jul 25 2007, 08:46 PM) [snapback]484598[/snapback]</div>

My bet is the plug-in Prius has an external electric oil pump to lubricate the PSD instead of the ICE revolution.

The parallel structure gets twice of kW power.
It looks Prius needs only 15 kW to maintain 60 mph speed.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Jul 26 2007, 12:04 AM) [snapback]484663[/snapback]</div>

It is not clear video on the MFD screen,
But, I think it shows SOC and rest of the possible EV only mode range.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Jul 26 2007, 01:22 AM) [snapback]484714[/snapback]</div>

You're right.

The Japanese test is done by 3 cycles of 10 mode city and 1 cycle of 15 mode highway test.
The max speed of 15 mode highway test is only 70 km/h (43.5 mph).

Ken@Japan

 

This looks like it is just for general testing of proof of concept. The real hold up appears to be battery reliability on the lithium batteries. Why not remove the back seats and put in 6 batteries.

 

What IF they could use some of the large format NiMH from the RAV4 EV. You would not need the Li packs except for exceptional EV only range. But alas, they can't.

Wayne

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clett @ Jul 25 2007, 05:52 AM) [snapback]484588[/snapback]</div>

Yes, I would, assuming that wouldn't mean early battery replacement, and assuming they modified the software to make all-EV driving more accessible (ie., make it more likely we could do short trips without triggering ICE startup.) If we could get eight EV miles per day, 365 a year, 10 years, 4 cents per mile savings (net of gas - electric cost), that would be $1170 energy cost savings. If we can't access pure EV miles -- if the ICE has to run -- then it's not so clear. (I'd buy a heater to address the separate issue of heating the cabin in winter.)

So, plausibly, it would pay for itself. At which point, given the other benefits, then I class it as a no-brainer, much like buying the Prius originally: costs no more and better for the environment (based on my location and driving patterns), of course I'd get it.

Short charge time would mean we could easily do mid-day recharge, which would either let us do over 8 per day EV or avoid the deep-discharge part of the cycle.

I'd worry about trashing the battery early, but if that were not an issue, sure, for $1000, why not.

A second question would be whether I'd rather buy 8 miles for $1K versus (Hymotion) 30 miles for $10K. I believe I'd go with the 8. This could put a real crimp in the Hymotion and similar conversions.

The harder question is whether I'd be willing to trade my existing Prius to buy a PHEV equipped model. Maybe Toyota should factor in trade-ups when projecting the impact of this option on demand for the Prius. I mean, in some sense, I'd be buying a $24K car well before I otherwise would, just to get the cool-o $1K accessory. I have never ever done anything remotely like that, but ... I would at least think about it. For sure, if I were Toyota, I don't think I'd offer this as a retrofit. Make me buy a new car if I want the PHEV option, that probably maximizes their return.

 

Yikes. We now have at least THREE threads running on this concurrently. Any way to combine them? Tough to keep up! (EDIT: they are combined now)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clett @ Jul 25 2007, 06:46 AM) [snapback]484598[/snapback]</div>

The current PSD gearing will allow 100 km/h or 62 MPH quite nicely. MG1 has a 10,000 RPM limit as can seen in this Nomograph screenshot:



You are correct though about some sort of reworking of the PSD as there is a very small chance that Toyota would run the transaxle at those RPMs without some sort of lubrication modification such as an electric oil pump that comes on during this higher speed, longer distances EV runs as splash lubrication is probably not sufficient & pressurized lubrication is currently provided by the ICE which is, of course, not running during EV mode.

Best Regards,
Wayne -- http://privatenrg.com

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eric Nothman @ Jul 25 2007, 02:28 AM) [snapback]484577[/snapback]</div>

Hmm. SDG&E is testing plug in Prius hybrids with the Hymotion LiIon batteries. Having heard the engineer from Hymotion, I like a LiIon plug in rather than the NiMH.