At 07:39 PM Saturday 10/20/2007, Robert Seeberger wrote: >http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34422/113/ > > >TG Video: Aftermarket lithium-ion battery pack squeezes 150 MPG from a >Toyota Prius > >Ontario (CA) - A new lithium-ion battery pack for the Toyota Prius may >not lower gas prices, but it promises to make trips to the gas station >less frequent - a lot less frequent. Made by Hymotion and A123 >Systems - the same folks that brought you the batteries in the >Killacycle - this aftermarket kit converts the car into a plug-in >hybrid and allows it to run on electric power for the first forty >miles of a trip. As you can expect, total gas mileage goes through >the roof and company executives claim drivers can easily exceed 150 >miles-per-gallon in the city and 100 MPG on the highways.
And the further you go, the more it approaches the baseline figure. I suppose if you are driving across the country to see grandma, you could carry an extension cord and plug it into an outlet when you stop for the night at a motel along the way and get the first 40 miles of the day off the battery (assuming that you get a ground-floor room and the management doesn't object). >We inspected one of Hymotion's specially outfitted cars at the Clean >Vehicle Technology Expo in Ontario California. The 175-pound battery >pack installs in the spare tire well of the trunk and you still have >the entire trunk space for cargo. You can even lay the spare tire on >top of the battery pack, but Nick Rothman, a kit installer for Green >Gears, told us that some companies go without the spare and carry a >can of "Fix a Flat" instead. Not much help when the belt separates or a long nail or screw goes through the side of the tire. >In your average Prius, the gasoline engine still does the majority of >the work and the batteries merely take over at low speeds. The >Hymotion-equipped car, however, works much differently. Owners charge >up their vehicles with a regular 110 or 220 volt extension cord and >afterwards the car will drive dozens of miles solely on electrical >power. From empty, the five kilovolt battery pack charges in about >six hours with 110 volt and 3 hours with 220 volt electricity. > >According to Rothman, the kit takes about four hours to install and a >few more hours of testing and configuration. Other than the extra >batteries and an added charging outlet, the Prius remains stock and >unchanged. > >The Hymotion kits are currently being tested by several companies, but >Ricardo Bazzarella, President of Hymotion, told us Prius owners won't >have to wait long to get their own kits and plans on having them >available in the first quarter of 2008 for approximately $9500 dollars >(installation included). Which is more than some people have to pay for an entire vehicle. -- Ronn! :) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
