Toyota finally plugs in the Prius - Paris Car Show

I've always thought the top EV speed had more to do with protecting the MG at high RPMS:
http://www.techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/warpstealth.html

If that's true, it's a risky proposition to use some hack to get around it.

 

The way people are currently getting around it is exploiting a mode built into the car already. The car has the ability to run full electric when it runs out of gas, while still protecting all the motors. This is a bad idea on a stock Prius, as you'll toast your battery pretty quick, but if you have a PHEV battery thats not a concern.

Rob

 

I would disagree. If you look back at my previous post, I think a PHEV10-15 NimH Prius still makes a lot more sense for the next few years. For ~$25k (after the $3k tax credit) you should be able to get a NimH PHEV10-15 Prius that will cost an average driver ~$6-700 dollars per year in fuel (gas & electric). Meanwhile the Volt will likely cost at least $35k (after the $5k tax credit) and bring the same drivers fuel costs down to $3-400 per year. Some people will want the extra EV range anyway (including possibly myself), but my feeling is the general market will not be too excited about spending an extra $10k+ to get a car thats smaller and slower just to save $300 per year on fuel.

Rob