Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Plug-in Hybrids 
330 messages, Last post on Nov 13, 2008 at 12:13 PM
You are in the Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
This discussion is ARCHIVED. To reactivate the discussion, post a request in the Lost? Ask the Hybrids Host for directions! discussion.
|
The newest option for hybrids is the plugin hybrid. 2 companies are going to offer this as an aftermarket option. Edrive and Hymotion. So far Toyota has not agreed to offer it from the factory. First only full hybrids like the 2004 and newer Toyota Prius can become a plugin hybrid. Second you don't have to plug it in but when and if you do you get about 100+ miles per gallon. The cost for electricity is about 80 cents a gallon equivilent with electric at 8 cents a kilowatt hour. Third you can just plug it in at night in a normal home AC outlet rated at 120v 15 amps like a frige or hair dryer uses. The power company has lots of extra capacity at night and even offers time of day pricing at 4 cent off peak and 21 cents on peak or something similar. Fourth this requires extra battery power. It done with lithium batteries that last longer, are lighter and smaller than the NiMH now used in hybrids. Last this will cost about 10,000 dollars at forst. Just like PCs and Digital cameras and Cellphones it will become cheaper and better each month. Maybe some day it will be an extra to try and get you to buy a new model. WOW This helps reduce our Oil Addiction , air pollution, global warming, our enconomy, our security and gives us a choice when driving. Soon all hybrids will use the new lithium batteries. Soon many hybrids may run on fuel other than gas, like E85 ethanol, bio-diesel and even hydrogen injection and someday fuel cells. Each one makes our country cleaner and stronger. We can become independant again and not have our country run by the price of oil in the middle east.
|
|
|
Replying to: eaa (Mar 31, 2006 2:39 pm) They will more than likely get better. I don't think they will get cheaper. They have not gotten cheaper for all other electronic devices. Plug-ins will only be for the gungho hybrid enthusiasts for a long time. Who in their right mind is going to toss out their warranty on a Prius to get a few more miles to the gallon?
|
|
|
Replying to: gagrice (Mar 31, 2006 3:49 pm)
|
|
| Saab ,GM just announced a new plugin hybrid that also runs on 100% ethanol. It's also a convertible. see http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/03/saab_to_introdu.html | |
|
Replying to: jim314 (Apr 06, 2006 9:20 am) Are you saying that people would spend $10k to convert the Prius into a plug-in hybrid for the THRILL of it? I guess some folks DO get some sort of visceral delight out of thinking they're 'screwing' the oil companies. Imagine - needing to take a long, cold shower after commuting home in your plug-in hybrid.....  
|
|
|
Replying to: rorr (Apr 06, 2006 10:30 am) When they got home they wouldn't take a cold shower, but rather one at exactly the optimum temperature with solar heated water coming out of an ultra low flow shower head which can be controlled to emit a near supersonic mist with a nifty white noise hiss. When they have guests (or if they have had a hard day and think, "Screw the world!") they can switch the head to ordinary ultralowflow, but they don't feel guilty because all the grey water (including the shower) is conducted out to the xeriscaped grounds. |
|
|
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/04/toyota_ratchets.html#more Prius-2008 will have 9 mile (14.5 km) plugin range.
|
|
|
Replying to: yerth10 (Apr 24, 2006 12:47 pm) If this is possible, it represents about a 25% decrease in the average fuel consumption of a many motorists (someone who travels ~12-13k miles per year). Think of the possibilities with a range of 40 miles on battery power alone. (40x365=14600 miles). Someone, somewhere has got to be able to achieve this! |
|
|
|
| Think about it. Expand the battery capacity add a solar panel on the roof. Commute to work - use the charge. Work your shift - battery charges. Go home - use the charge. And for those rainy cloudy days, you have the ICE. | |
|
|
|
I think the 100MPG number for plug-in hybrids is misleading. You may only burn 1 gallon to go that hundred miles, but that one gallon of gas will not be what propels your car that far. Coal will be. Or natural gas. Or Uranium, or wind, or whatever your local electricuty company feeds into your grid. It's like putting a gallon of gas in the trunk of your electric car, and saying you're getting an infinite range on that gallon of gas. You're not. You're using a different fuel source. Now, on a side note, here's my idea for energy independence. Offer an X-Prize type award, say $20 million, to the first carmaker, foreign or domestic, that brings to market in the US an all electric, battery powered midsize sedan that will run 150 miles  80 MPH on a single charge, can recharge in under 5 minutes, and can sell for a profit under $30,000. Granted, the technology to build this car does not exist today, but dangle a $20 million carrot in front of the carmakers' noses, and you'd be amazed at the innovations they can produce.
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Plug-in Hybrids
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2010 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
2011 Honda Civic
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
