Thinking about buying a plug in

Guys, I don't have a Prius...but it wouldn't accept my trying to post here without me specifying.

I have a dream...that would be people who live in apartments would not have to use charging stations, instead they would own 20 lb chargers that they would carry from their apartment to their car and charge it.

I realize this wouldn't work in Manhattan, because even the Yeti 3000 could only give you 18 miles, but in places like NJ, Brooklyn, Queen, Long Island, I think it can work.

So I need help, because I'm not an electrician.

Here is the thought process and logistics (in the form of a letter):


Dear Prius rebuilder people (if any of them see this posting and can reply first hand with estimates I’d appreciate it):


I’m a retired on disability former state worker computer geek with ADHD, OCD, TMI, and possibly aspergers.


I only drive a couple of miles (under 100 and that’s to my parents) every two weeks. On a weekly basis I maybe drive a total of 30 miles to go to the supermarket, get pizza and go to physical therapy 4 miles from my apartment.


I’m looking at buying a Prius Prime.


I live in an apartment. No running the cable to the car.


I want to buy two of these 500 to 2000 kWh portable batteries, which I need to keep under 20 lbs (ruling out most of the units like the Yeti). Sungzu over in China makes a 1kW unit that does the job, I also saw a 500 kW unit at Walmart (but I’m thinking a little bigger).


I want to do one of:

a) Put up a couple of solar power panels in the car when it’s idle. Hear me out. The sales guy at Subaru said the Crosstrek (same size battery 8.79 kWh, 25A), said it would take 100 chargers at 12 volts, but the way I see it, even

1. a. 12 volts, 100 watts=2080 hours
2. b. 12 volts, 1000 watts=208 hours (now I’m assuming I can’t put 1 1000 watt charger in the car, but I can put 4 250s or maybe even 3 400’s) so essentially it’s 1 free gallon of gas a month because I’m assuming only 12 hours of power, and the equivalent of 75% efficiency even though a 250 cell produces 350 kWh a day…and remember the Prius battery doesn’t fully discharge when you run it down.

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b) Buy the power station and charge it in the apartment
c) Buy the power station and charge it using solar panels in the apartment.


I am aware that if you use an external charger like the Yeti 3000, you have to drop the car’s power draw to 900 W and in order to accomplish that, you might have to run the ground to the negative to stop the ground fault (good words, but I don’t know how to do that).


Forget why, lets talk about how (logistics):


I. I’d like to open up the back and put in a splitter at the connector for the power input to the battery (pictures available) and the 12 volt system to which I’d hook up another power input only I’d leave it on the inside of the car…like having a cigarette lighter plug, or a USB plug, in the back section of the car.


II. If I can’t do that run the power cord from the power station out the back window and plug it into the charger



1) Can I leave the solar power charger plugged into the power station, plugged into the car all day?

2) Do you guys know solar chargers fitting the size of the dashboard and back window?

3) If the car can do a solar panel plug in, can the Prius be charging while it’s driving? Obviously the panel on the dashboard would have to be moved.

4) Can the solar panels be secured for the back window into the ceiling of the back of the car and then be secured flat when the car is in motion and to the door while stationary?


5) If the car can’t do the solar thing, is charging the 25A powerstation, utilizing the 110v in the apartment, 2 units, plugging them into the prius and swapping them twice a day doable (figure 8 trips for a full tank because the electric engine cuts out before it’s empty)?

6) In the event the station isn’t rated at 1000W continual, can the Prius’ draw be set below 900 W continual?

7) Do you know what kind of voltage a standard computer’s power jack (used for desktops and monitors) because that’s the plug on some of the powerstations I’m looking at?

8) Can I get the 240 volt (220?) instead of the 110v and use that the way I’m thinking?

9) Can a solar charger really recharge a 25A charger in 6 hours like Sungzu says?


Now those are the general questions.

I see about 4 modification guys on Google Maps in North NJ and Brooklyn. I’m in the Brick area. Does anyone know of a place that mods the Prius by me?

How much to get an aftermarket modification to:

A. Pull out all the screws, put in the splitter and the charging port in the back of the car, and close everything back up. I’ve seen it torn down in 15 minutes, and I’m not looking to open the battery…so allowing for a half to a full hour of work.

B. Get me an appropriate spare tire and then the styroform case (or other alternative) for the tire, which would also go over the power station, and the excess would be used to secure the power station so it doesn’t bounce around.

C. Build me a second top for the spare tire and the power station to slide under (with enough ventilation for the charging station) so that I can still use the trunk as a trunk (I’ll draw you a picture if you write back).

They way I'm figuring this my brother in law is a mechanic and we could in theory if we knew the cable to split open the car up in about an hour,

• plug the outlet in (price unknown),
• the power stations would run between $500 and $1500, running about a dollar a Watt (Sungzu 1kW is $500 plus $250 shipping) KISEA home kit from Home Depot $380 for 800w, etc
• Solar cells are about 1000 per kw , 1500 for the windy nation flexibles, as low as 500 per on some of the bigger ones (which obviously don't fit in the car).

Now I had a last minute thought, could someone McGiver up a smaller version of the Prius Battery (which has like 28 cells, which is in segments that weight 20 lbs which could be removed from the car and charged in the apartment…THAT would be something.