Bientôt Electrique Association offers plug-in kit for the Prius
The French pro-EV association, Bientôt Electrique (which means "electric soon") is offering a kit, guaranteed for two-years, that converts a regular Toyota Prius into a plug-in hybrid. The kit can be obtained without a battery for €1,499. If you want to add to the Prius' standard battery, a 2 kW battery + kit is offered for €2,550 and the 4 kW battery + kit is €3,550. Bientôt Electrique will install it for €349. The battery is installed in the trunk and the two power levels allow the car to go either 15 or 32 km (9 or 20 miles), respectively, in all-electric mode. According to the Bientôt Electrique site, two daily recharges allow a driver to run 120 km (75 miles) with average consumption of 2.5 l/100 km (94 mpg). Since the batteries are expected to last 2000 cycles or about 120,000 km (85,000 miles), these packs can save up to 6 metric tons of CO2 over their lifetimes.
[Source: Bientôt Electrique via Le Blog Auto]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave R 4:17PM (10/15/2009)
Looks like they are just reselling the http://Enginer.us/ kit.
2kWh kit sells for $1995
4kWh kit sells for $3495
DIY (no batteries) $995
Add $1000 for California residents for a 5 year warranty and certification cost
Reply
alex.aumann 4:50PM (10/15/2009)
Plus some $ for installation, assuming you don't do it yourself. Jungle motors charges $500.
Serge 4:42PM (10/15/2009)
Xavier, Greenlings 101: battery capacity is measured in watt-hours, not watts.
Reply
Mark Kiernan 4:53PM (10/15/2009)
This sounds really good. So for an extra 4k EUR you can have a PHEV, the milage isn't great but for an upgrade kit it is very reasonable.
Reply
paulwesterberg 4:55PM (10/15/2009)
It is good to have more options for conversions, hopefully batteries will continue to improve and the prices will continue to go down. Does adding 180lbs of extra weight require you to upgrade the shocks?
Much cheaper than the 10k hymotion charges for its 5kwh battery pack.
The cadillac of conversions costs 12.5k from Plug in Conversion Corp, but it replaced the original 1.3kwh battery with a 6.1kwh lithium battery and enables high speed electric action through a firmware update:
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/06/software-upgrade-to-prius-conversion-kit-enables-70-mph-all-electric-driving.html
Reply
Dave R 6:39PM (10/15/2009)
No need to upgrade the suspension to add-on the kit. If you check the PHEV section of PriusChat there is a lot of information about the kit there. How effective the kit is depends a lot on how you use it.
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-phev-plug-in-modifications/
Nick 11:50PM (10/15/2009)
Not bad at all, but a slightly used Prius for 18k, add this for 4k and you have a plug-in -hybrid that goes over 10 miles.
Reply
Carlos 9:45PM (10/15/2009)
And what´s the speed limit in electric mode?
Reply
Nick 11:51PM (10/15/2009)
Carlos:
Freeway speed.......about 5-20mpg here in LA. No need for higher speeds out here.
3PeaceSweet 8:07AM (10/16/2009)
I'm sure Toyota could do this as an 'option' for about half the cost.
A 5kWh ~15 mile pack for an extra €2,500 would be just right.
Reply