I did a search and it looks like we overlooked this news article from last week: Valence Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLNC - News) today announced by the end of February, it plans to ship an additional 600 custom modules of Valence’s safe, Lithium Phosphate energy storage systems for installation and conversion of Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles into Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles. OEMtek’s plug-in hybrid will average 90 miles per gallon at freeway speeds of 60 miles per hour for an average distance of 47 miles on a single charge. For urban driving the vehicle and will average more than 150 mpg at speeds under 35 mph for 30 miles on a single charge. Valence makes lithium batteries that are safer than the standard lithium ion. They are used in some Segways and other applications. This pack is apparently designed to fit in the "hidden" trunk, but above the spare tire.
Ahhh! Looks interesting but the price is a bit much for me...The price of my prius was actually a pretty large, determining factor. http://www.oemtek.com/buy.html $12,500?! I guess it is a pretty large battery... If you get this, can you post a thread about what you think, so I can live vicariously through your nice, probably package 6, high-mpg, Prius?
I would prefer a Breez battery pack that replaces the OEM. Since the size is smaller - it would also be cheaper. Just getting 3x or 4x the current NiMH capacity and plug-in, in a sub-6000$ price tag, would be just perfect. For me. At 12,500 + extra warranty, I don't do enough weekly mileage to support such a high cost. _:smow:_
Well, from an economic standpoint, it will never pay for itself, but that is not the point. You do this to lower your carbon footprint even more, and it will save you money... just not as much as it costs to install. Unless gas goes to $7-$10 a gallon... I have been checking out these 3rd party solutions, and they started out at around $24,500, its good to see it down to $12,500 now... still, I think the 2010 Prius will have this feature, and it will only add $4-6K to the vehicle. Debating if its worthwhile, with a 2004 Prius... here is their PDF spec sheet anyway: http://www.oemtek.com/pdf/2007-11-30_OEMTEK_Prius_PHEV_Technical_Specs.pdf mitch
These after market things are so expensive because they have no economy of scale and have to retrofit each car by hand. I see no reason the plug in Prius should be much more than the current version. There is no cost other than replacing the current battery with a higher capacity/volume technology battery and the charging system. Maybe they have to change a little sheet metal in the battery compartment and some software in the "when to use electric, when to use gas, how much to charge" area. I'm sure Toyota gets a better price on the battery saying "We'll buy 100,000 over the next year" than these companies get with "I need 10".
Hi All, $12.5 K does not do it for me yet apparently. I entered my daily driving into their computer on the OEMtek website and got $325/year savings. So, that works out to 38 years to break even. Which I doubt this battery would last, let alone the car. Working it backwards, 15 years times $325 is $4875. So for it to be economic for me, it would need to be around $5K or less. This is pure, right now, no other considerations (like enviorment or status symbol or eco-competition) cost. Although, I would think real hard if it was $7K about this.
