Would you pay $10,000 to double your mileage?

Are you kidding, I just paid $27K to double my mileage. Jaguar X-Type to Toyota Prius, what's $10K?

 

Only in America, do you find everybody wanting to throw mid East oil back into their faces, curb global warming, OH, but I won't do it unless I can save money too!

As a member of the "Baby Boomer" generation I can't help but remember how my parents generation fought the facists, and Comunists to make the world safe for Democracy, while the only thing my generation will be remembered for is the invention of "Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll". I know, a bit of an exageration.

but I think anybody on this forum who has purchased a Prius for the right reasons, should also, if they can afford it, turn their Prius into a plug in, and maybe even put a solar system on their roof so that it can be charged with electricity that hasn't required combustion to be derived. The combination of Plug in Prius and Solar power can be paid off in around 15 years. Perhaps a better investment for Family, Culture, Country, and Civilization than investing that 30,000 dollars in the Stock Market. Thanks-

Ron

 

i'd pay $35,000 to outright buy a new plug in prius, but to convert mine? i'll wait till it dies and get a new one

 

>"...expects half of the ... kits will have problems..."

so - spend $10k to have a 50% chance of risking my $25k investment in the prius?
hm, i don't think so...

now if the kits turn out to be , say, 95% reliable - and won't void my warranty - then, maybe.

 

You have to remember that the # one aim in the design of the Prius was to reduce emissions. Prius engineers sacrificed gas too reduce emissions as quickly as possible.

The job and risk of being an early adoptor is too show everybody else that this is a good way to go, PHEV's are going to work! Or maybe not.

I have worked with the batteries that are going into the Hymotion pack for two years now. I have ruined 6 or more of them with abuse and I have seen a few infant deaths. A123 has gotten good info from their application into the Dewalt 36V power tools, and their intelligent chargers are well done and are conservative. After seeing what these cells have gone through with the motorcycle dragster heating them up to boiling temps several hundred times without a single failure gives me the confidence that the conservative application in the Prius won't be a problem.

The Hymotion pack in the Prius is capable of putting out 150kw but will only have to provide 22kw and then only for a few seconds, and they are capable of being recharged in two minutes, but will take four and a half hours to charge in the Prius.
This very concervative application will ensure long life of this battery pack. I think the problems will be very few, and taken care of with the Hymotion warranty.

Can the Prius take the extra electric operation? Will the engine stay lubricated with less use? These are the real questions. Also, I have to agree, waiting for a PHEV to be fully designed by a competent manufacturer is a much safer way to go. And maybe you will be encouraged by the thousands of cobbled together Prius PHEV's running around years before will give you the confidence to buy one of th new manufactured ones. Good luck to us early adopors! Thanks-

Ron

PS- Yes, I agree living in Alaska is not the best place for solar. Here in Arizona we like to get something more out of the Sun than skin cancer. And ofcourse you have to have your own house to take advantage of developing your own electricity too. Come on down here Ron C. and warm up, take advantage of the marvelous sun!

 

The only reason I bought mine is because I got it for $5500 off MSRP 3 days before the tax credit went from 50% to 25%, so I got another $750 in savings. This was in March 2007.

I bought the thing on a whim in about 3 hours. Previous to that I never even considered the Priss as an option.

So is that a "right" reason to buy the thing?

Get off your high horse long enough to see how the real world works.

 

WE bought ours at the same time. It was the best time ever to get one. No wait, great deal. I paid $2000 less for a pkg 6 than my sister did for a pkg 4 a month earlier. She got the $1500 tax credit, we only got $750 boo-hoo!

I bet we could get $5k more for it now then when we bought it!

Icarus

 

Well, I've already made my deposit.

I don't know if it will ever pay for itself, but I'm doing it to minimize my own dependence on oil. I'm also planning on getting at least a 1 kW set of solar panels. I'm probably going to be out at least $15k - $25k altogether on it, depending on how many panels I get. And I use "cheap" hydroelectric energy in Washington state.

As for the warranty, at least some of the installation centers are Toyota dealerships. I don't know for sure about the one in Seattle.

Of course I expect to put at least 300k miles on my Prius. It has 74k+ miles on it now.


I'm doing this while I have the money available. I'm retiring at the end of the summer and won't be able to lay out the money later on.

Dave M.

 

Coal burning plants are a lot more efficient than any gasoline engine.

At least in summer, you have more sun light available than anywhere in the continental U.S. Even though you get almost none in the winter, you get a lot in the summer.

Dave M.

 

I bet you could get more than that.

 

if for some reason i cant trade or sell my 2008 touring to buy the new 90+mpg prius, maybe id consider the conversion...but then again it will VOID the warranty...so what do you do...unless said companies can put a warranty on your vehicle that replaces the toyota warranty plus the extension you paid extra for??? but i highly doubt that

if budget allows id rather buy another prius...even a 1st gen...to replace or take place of one of my other non hybrid cars

 

toyota needs to kick in PHEV in 2010 or bust

 

Seems to me that the Priss is selling just fine as it is. It would be nice if PHEV was here by 2010, but if it's not profitable, they won't do it.

 

2 big parts of that equation have to be warranty and perception. Toyota would be nuts to jump the gun and introduce new technology without enough failure free testing to assure them that they won't experience failures. With as much mis-information as there is about hybrid failures, they can't afford to have any real issues on a new model.

 

Same here.

 

no

 

If you had just said "Art Spinella" made the above quote, I wouldn't have wasted my time searching through the article.

If I recall correctly (Evan and any of the rest of you with a history here) his name says it all. Spin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he's been anti-hybrid and anti- anything related to the Prius for a long time. If only half the kits have problems according to him, I'm not worried.

Dave M.