PriusPlus Conversion Technical Group Is Open For Viewing

Fellow Prius Fans

A bit more than a month ago, we established the PRIUS+ Plug-In Hybrid Conversion Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/priusplus/

We aimed to bring together in one watering hole the people we knew were actively involved in discussions or activities related to converting the '04 Prius to become a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The result, we hope, will be a number of prototypes and a good bit of public attention as part of the California Cars Initiative's (http://www.calcars.org) strategy to encourage Toyota and other auto makers to offer PHEVs to the public.

We started quietly, but always with the intention that our planning and discussions be public, and that we give away the solutions we come up with. We're working hard to balance the contradictory goals of keeping the discussion quality high by limiting posting privileges with ensuring that all our discussions are seen by the people interested in the project. The group's San Francisco Bay Area-based moderators are me, CalCars' founder, and Ron Gremban, a seasoned engineer with electric vehicle experience back to the 1970s, who's leading the technology development effort.

We've kept a low profile so far, while making progress. We've:
* involved about 25 of the most imaginative and technically experienced people as participants;
* exchanged 100 messages reviewing some of the issues and getting feedback about technical plans and choices;
* produced a Strawman Specification for the strategic and technical objectives;
* surveyed and prioritized the universe of battery options;
* suggested a key set of experiments we need to do to validate our design options;
* raised a substantial portion of the funds we need to convert two vehicles (one with NiMH and one with Li-Ion batteries);
* purchased our first component for the project (a flexible, programmable charger;
* put together a complete but preliminary shopping list for review and discussion;
* established a very ambitious goal of trying to get a credible NiMH prototype ready to drive from California to the Sept.20 Plug-In Hybrid Workshop at the Electric Drive Transportation Association's international conference in Orlando, Florida.

Next we'll:
* encourage much more specific discussion on our components list;
* develop a schedule of tasks to accomplish to meet our 6-week deadline;
* further explore how Toyota's Hybrid System works;
* begin tests as the components arrive;
* solicit tax-deductible contributions in any amount--see http://www.calcars.org/sponsor.html ;
* build the prototypes and hope we don't run up against any problems that prevent us from meeting

Now we'd like you to check us out and consider how you might contribute to the project. We invite you to read through the messages at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/priusplus/messages (you might start with message #71 and go forward to the low 100s).

Thanks in advance for your support
Felix Kramer

P.S. If you are eager to convert your own car, we don't have the time and resources to help you out individually, but feel free to monitor the discussions on the group.


Here's the Statement of Purpose of on the Group's home page:

priusplus · PRIUS+ Plug-In Hybrid Conversion Group
Welcome! Here you can view or participate in discussions about the project to make the 2004 Prius a plug-in hybrid -- PHEV, also called pluggable, plug-optional or grid-connected hybrid. We're preparing to build a few prototypes as a step toward getting Toyota to produce them. PRIUS+ will have a 15-20+ mile electric-only range at up to 35 MPH. At higher speeds it will act just like any other highway-capable Prius -- see http://www.priusplus.org. (It may be possible to achieve even higher electric-only speeds.)
We model our effort on "Open Source" software development projects: We draw on the expertise and solutions of a broad group of experts and no individual owns any resulting intellectual property.

Since we don't keep our discussions secret, our message archives are OPEN to the public, though we're not listed in Yahoo Group's directory. We intend to remain highly focused, relatively low-traffic and spam-free. In this working group, members post messages based on their specialties.


We emphasize anyone can READ messages. To join, if you haven't been invited, submit a membership request (click at upper right of this page). In "comments," please tell us how you heard about us; describe your background and technical expertise or business and strategic experience.

If you're just looking, read the first message in the archive to learn more about the group, and search for the latest posted version of the Strawman Specification for our starting points. (Other details are in documents uploaded to the Files area, available ONLY to members.)

You may also want to view or join:
http://www.calcars.org -- all about PHEVs
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gridable-hybrids -- PHEV talk
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius-2G -- 2004 Prius issues
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius_Technical_Stuff -- nuts and bolts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius_Minisc...scanner_MarkIII -- a similar working group.
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Felix Kramer [email protected]
'04 Prius Oct-June 48.3 mpg/9500 mi
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.priusplus.org
PO Box 61222 Palo Alto, CA 94306
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