"Drivers of gas-sipping hybrid vehicles are increasingly interested in converting their vehicles from gasoline powered to electric, according to garage owner and lead technician Carolyn Coquillette. "Coquillette said she gets three or four calls or e-mails a day, asking about the conversion. "Luscious Garage will soon open a second location for the growing number of really green hybrid owners. "The plug-in conversion costs about $7,500. Hybrids trick out, plug in - CNN.com (Is the price of conversion going down? Did it used to be $10K?)
Sen. Lamar Alexander [R-TN] converted his Prius for $10K through A123 to 100% electric. This is the link for pix and interview: Sen. Lamar Alexander Buzzes About His Electric Car - Washington Whispers (usnews.com)
This is for their own lead-acid battery extension, not the Hymotion system. Not 100%. It's a plug-in hybrid, so the gas engine is still there, but he rarely uses it. I like the fact that a Republican Senator sees the need for this.
The Lead Acid battery solution is not ideal. It is very heavy, will not last as long as alternatives and is not entirely eco-friendly. Other conversion shops offer NiMH or Lithium Ion conversions (like hymotion) - these cost more, last longer and are more environmentally friendly and even recycleable. Also, I don't know the full history of safety comparisons with the Lead Acid Battery solution. i would want to be sure it has been fully crash tested prior to shelling out that kind of money.
I got a 2006 Prius over any other car, specifically to do a PHEV conversion once it's paid for. I'm halfway there, and in 2+ years, I've seen the PHEV kits really start to mature.
I thought similar when I read "lead acid." I thought about the 1890s and the original electric vehicles before Henry Ford popularized the ICE. At the same time, I still have the original Toyota OEM lead-acid battery in my Corolla from 2004. It'll be going on five years now. Of course, I don't know how capacity has been effected - it might only hold 60% of the charge it did when it was new. Based on my own experiences (with automobiles), as long as you don't live in a climate where water freezes, lead acid batteries are very "tried and true" reliable.
lead acid batteries should be as recyclable as the other batteries (nimh and li-ion) its just we have to trust the end user will dispose of it properly, and not just throw one in the trash. once the battery is in the system, the lead is removed and 100 % of it is remanufactured into new batteries, or umm bullets! heh i wish they would change the law, and instead of having to pay $5 to dispose of a lead acid battery, they should pay you $5 to return it. kind of like beverage container laws. california wants lead back so bad, that we have to pay $8 when we buy a television set, and that money goes into a fund, which pays for the recycling of all the old televisions. it used to cost $30 to throw away a tv set responsibally. now you can just drop it off at a recycling center free of charge, but you dont get your $8 back, heh
The fluid in lead acid batteries is water and acid, it doesn't freeze down to at least -45'F in my experience. I've never heard of it freezing in colder areas. (It does get less effective in cold temperatures as the chemical reactions slow down). You think of the number of accidents lead acid batteries have been in, and they're quite safe. However, they do outgas on rare occasions, which can be explosive. I've had batteries in my cars that were 6 or 7 years old (going thru real winters, too), but that's a whole different scenario than deep-cycling a battery for EV purposes. I don't think they'd last more than a couple years under normal usage, but they're relatively cheap to replace.
