Need information on Prius electrical power

I think you need to search the site and read a bit before posting your questions again. Most of your questions are answered already in very recent posts.

 

The Prius' existing batteries contain enough energy to drive perhaps one mile. The plug-in retrofit companies don't try to recharge the Prius batteries, and neither should you (they add their own batteries essentially in parallel). Figuring it out and building a system that worked correctly would easily cost more than the original car.

If you really want to help clear the air and money is no object:
- spend $10,000 on a plug-in retrofit. You'll increase electric-only range to a few miles.
- buy a second Prius and give it to someone who now drives a jalopy.
- spend $100,000 on a Tesla and give the Prius to someone who now drives a jalopy.

By The Way, the dealer's advice is partly nonsense. B should only be used for added braking on long downgrades; using B always reduces overall fuel economy.

 

Here is a recent thread on the subject of potentially adding plug-in capability without adding batteries.

 

B mode will not help with recharging the battery. Once again a dealer is full of something stinky.

As for charging your battery from the wall, it won't help enough to justify the cost, unless you add a bigger battery. The HV battery in the Prius is very small, equivalent to only a tiny amount of gasoline.

Tom

 

And that is the fundamental problem. The Ni-MH HV battery in the Prius has the USABLE energy of about 1/40 of a gallon of gasoline; since it will get you about 1 mile under electric only power, compared to the 40 miles that a gallon of gas will propel the car. Battery/electric storage technology has to improve by several orders of magnitude further before competitive all-electric power becomes viable. Then the question becomes how do you stuff the required energy into the battery in the shortest possible time.

It really is difficult to find an alternative energy medium that has the portability and energy density of gasoline. Which is why the U.S. economy has come to depend on it so heavily.

 

Just noticed this lithium ion replacement for the Prius traction battery. Price is $5500.

eBay Motors: Toyota Prius Lithium Ion Battery,plug in, w/capacitors, (item 320338233525 end time Mar-06-09 11:50:37 PST)