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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Prius Recharge Prius at Home on AC power?
34 messages, Last post on Aug 16, 2007 at 9:31 AM
You are in the Toyota Prius Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
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Replying to: jjgoodwin (Aug 16, 2006 6:20 am) The Prius is not made to run on electricity other than backing up and starting the trip. It is made and designed to work with its ICE engine. 
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Replying to: terry92270 (Aug 16, 2006 7:29 am)
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Replying to: terry92270 (Aug 16, 2006 7:29 am) As far as Li-Ion batteries being safe. They have critical parameters that have to be followed or they can become dangerous. Ask the 4.1 million Dell laptop owners with Sony Li-Ion batteries being recalled. |
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Replying to: terry92270 (Aug 16, 2006 7:29 am) I'm just thinking since the Prius doesn't top off the batteries, because then it'll have no room to use things like regenerative braking, it might be good to fully charge it at night, and then the first mile or so could be on batteries since I live in a residential area, where I have many turns, and must go slow speeds. It wouldn't be much, but I figured if it was easy to do once I park in my garage, it would be a little extra every day. Basically, the way I see it. If you don't introduce outside power, all the power that goes into the batteries comes (at some point) from gasoline. If you put some power in from the outside, it won't need to charge the batteries. I'm not looking to replace the batteries, or make an all electric vehicle. I *was* thinking I could plug it in, recharge it at night, and get cheap costs on the next mile or two worth of driving. This is not crucial, as 45-60mpg, you are starting to split hairs when you don't have a daily commute (although I'm 20 miles from any well-known stores). |
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Replying to: jjgoodwin (Aug 15, 2006 12:24 pm) What you have to realize is the current car is a "system". All parts are interrelated. The system is designed to maintain the "traction battery" between 30 and 70% charge. There are several reasons for this: 1. Stopping charging at 70% allows "headroom" to recover kinetic energy via regenerative braking - accounting for about 20% of the fuel savings the car manages. If the battery ends up with too much charge the system will "dump" the energy - resulting in poorer mileage. 2. Keeping the traction battery between 30 and 70% charge lengthens battery life - a lot. When you charge a NiMH battery above 70% charge it starts to convert a lot of the charge energy to heat - and that is the enemy of most batteries and this type in particular. That's why most "rapid chargers" you can find shut down "rapid charge" mode at 70-80% charge and switch to "trickle charge" mode. If you get them too hot they will vent gas and electrolyte - and very little of that will leave them as dead weight. 3. If you try to run on battery power only it will take you a few miles. It's a "small" battery in the world of electric cars. Charging it to full would add perhaps one or two miles to its' range. Not really worth it considering the down side - shortened life. What some have done is increase the battery size by adding another in parallel. This allows more energy to be stored and a longer range on electric mode (search for EV switch), making electric mode almost practical for short runs for groceries, for example. The extra battery capacity also allows capture of more kinetic energy via regenerative braking. This has reportedly improved mileage into the 100 MPG range. It has also added weight - about 70-80 lbs for the extra battery, and loss of some cargo room. Generally you wouldn't want to parallel batteries, as one tends to get overcharged and the other undercharged - not the best situation for battery life, but because the Prius operates the battery in the 30-70% charge range this doesn't seem to cause problems. The rumour is the 2008 Prius will have home charging capability and a larger capacity battery - perhaps a lithium ion type to decrease weight and volume. We shall see. |
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Replying to: tpe (Aug 16, 2006 7:42 am) If you ignore the price of conversion, that is lunacy. If you consider the real-world, not the fantasy one that may come someday, conversion and electricity is hugely more expensive than gas. The future will most likely belong to Hydrogen, not some fantasy battery that is light weight and powers a Navigator! 
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Replying to: terry92270 (Aug 16, 2006 8:00 am) You are hugely wrong. Most Americans right now are spending around $2000 per year on gas. The cost of using electricity would be roughly a third of that. With savings of $1300 per year you can pay for a lot of conversion. The cost of additional battery capacity would be considerably less expensive if the car was originally manufactured that way rather than having to be converted.
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Replying to: tpe (Aug 16, 2006 9:37 am) If you really did spend $2000/yr in gas while driving a Prius, you would be driving at least about 30k miles/yr if you only got 45mpg, at 60mpg, you'd be driving 40k miles/yr. At that point, maybe it's better to spend money on comfort, because you are saving, bed, and housing costs, because you probably *live* in your Prius.
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Replying to: tpe (Aug 16, 2006 9:37 am) Are you prepared to day it costs the United States nothing in resources to generate that electricity for you, no matter what you pay for it? What about the secondary generation pollution?  In most areas of the country, producers can barely keep pace with current demand, let along adding hundreds of thousands plugging in high-voltage chargers. If the idea is one of saving resources, in total, rather than the selfish interests of just one or two users, one must look at everything. While you are obviously, and laudably committed to alternative energy, please understand that MOST users will not be willing to keep their speed down below 50MPH, not run their air conditioning and all the other electronics they have grown used to. Not to mention the rather limited cruising range, and the hassle of plugging in, or for that matter, finding a place to do so.
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Replying to: jjgoodwin (Aug 16, 2006 9:58 am)
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