AutoblogGreen video: lithium-ion plug-in Prius
The video above is a tour, at a Washington event, of a plug-in lithium-ion Prius with Alan Shedd of Jackson electric coop. The Jackson coop and CRN converted the Prius in February '07 and has logged months of driving data. Below the fold is another YouTube video all about the car's conversion and the great publicity it gets. Alan gets 30 miles in electric-only mode, which is a lot better than the 2-mile range of the normal Prius.
Toyota just started testing plug-in technology in Japan and France. Toyota's test plug-in cars only have an 8-mile range in electric-only mode. The next phase for Toyota is a 40-mile range vehicle in electric-only mode which will probably use lithium-ion batteries. Alan showed me the data logger he has in the car and talked about his experience with plug-ins. Hey Toyota, save some money on research and give Alan a call!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 3:05PM (9/20/2007)
When exclusively using its electric motor, the Prius has a 42 mph (68 km/h) top speed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prius
This means that he filled up his tank in Atlanta and merged onto I-95N to Washington, DC. He got “all electric range” of about 2 miles as he merged onto the highway, and about 2 miles as he left the highway to his hotel in DC. That’s why his overall gas mileage was so dismal for a PHEV.
Unless of course he drove the first 40 miles up I-95 at 40 mph, but only a homicidal/suicidal maniac would do that.
Now, would somebody at Toyota please explain how is the parallel system “better” than a series electric like the Volt where the first 40 miles are ALL electric no matter what the speed?
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rgseidl 5:17PM (9/20/2007)
If I understood the gentleman correctly, the control logic of the stock 2004 Prius was retained. The battery in the back - regardless of size - is mollycoddled by that software and not discharged aggressively. As a result, the PHEV setup is not currently optimized to support cruising at highway speeds.
If you drive most of your miles on the highway, you're better off with a (T2B5-compliant) diesel anyhow. Single-mode compound hybrids (cp. Prius) are more efficient only in stop-and-go traffic.
REBEVs (cp. GM E-Flex, Volvo ReCharge, Citroen Cactus) may work well in both duty cycles, but the battery cost will be very high. Total fuel cost will be sharply down but asset depreciation will be much higher.
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