Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota
Illinois brothers tune up a 100 mpge Prius
Whether contemplating the possibility of a Lexus Prius or dreaming up a Prius convertible, people sure do like to tinker with Toyota's halo car. Of course, for many, the reason to mess with the hybrid is to squeeze more miles per gallon out of the car.According to CBS Chicago, two brothers from Du Page county, Illinois - Chris and Andrew Ewert - have modified a Prius to get 100 mpge (the "e" here being very undefined in the original source), simply by adding more batteries (battery type? also undefined) and a charger to the stock model. While techy details are not forthcoming about this particular PHEV conversion, at least one message comes through nicely: "My brother and I built this, and car companies should be able to do it, too," Chris said.
If you'd like to see some technical information on how a Prius conversion looks like, check out what Kim Adelman is doing.
[Source: CBS Chicago]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave 4:35PM (5/09/2008)
I'ld like to see how that thing performs in a rear crash. Anybody can throw a battery in a car and say it gets super gas milage.
Reply
Techgod 4:40PM (5/09/2008)
Dave,
Have you seen Armmat post on this website? He's gay too...
Reply
paulwesterberg 5:02PM (5/09/2008)
125,000 Btu/gallon of gas
$1.00 will buy you 1 million Btu in electricity
$1.25 is the cost for the electrical equivalent of a gallon of gas.
If you drive your prius 15k miles per year @46mpg combined paying $4 per gal your fuel cost would be $1,304.35
If you plug in your prius and get 100mpge then your fuel cost would be $187.50
Electricity is cheaper because distribution costs are very low and government regulation keeps prices in check. Batteries + Electric motors are much more efficient than internal combustion engines.
Congress may not be able to pass meaningful, timely cafe regulations, but they should mandate that the new car stickers include vehicle cost of ownership information including all regular maintenance + fuel costs for 5 & 10 years.
People might reconsider an SUV once they realize that it is likely to cost them 15,000 for fuel for 5 years.
Most people drive less than 60 miles per day.
The only thing holding back electric vehicles is the battery cost, big oil & lethargic auto manufacturers.
Reply
Ken Brunot 1:43PM (5/11/2008)
Why will these 2 brothers not "publish" exactly how they accomplished this? I believe they were sucessful in making this happen, so what purpose does it serve to not publish their accomplishment? They claim they do not plan to market their conversion, so what is the deal here? If someone knows these guys tell them "OUT WITH IT already". Seriously, how did you do it?
Reply
E 7:26AM (5/12/2008)
They have published it:
http://www.priusplus.org
Reply
John Winstead 1:21PM (5/27/2008)
Plug-In vehicles will not make sense until alternative energy sources are perfected and utilized. A 60 mile commute using a plug in vehicle would use 636 Gallons of fresh water. Almost half of our fresh water supply used daily goes to power sources such as coal and nuclear. A higher demand for power will create problems for many regions.
Reply
Jim McCullough 2:13PM (5/31/2008)
If car buyers boycott big size+weight and shun low mpg, car companies will produce cleaner, more efficient cars. Existing infrastructures (electricity +fossil fuels) provide the quickest starting point towards a better future. Cleaner fuels even higher MPG can follow, again by public demands on politicians and company ceo’s. $0.05/mile or less is my target economy ($5 gas=100 MPG min)($0.12 electricity =2.4 mile/kwh min).
Imagine...if 6-7% of this year’s car buyers refused to buy bigger-is-better and insisted on less-is-more, one million car sales would be lost! CEOs would take note!
Reply
T2 9:18PM (5/31/2008)
@Jim McCullough
Here's the problem up in the Great White North -
Whenever GM or Ford threaten to close a car plant in Ontario, they have each demanded $200M in cash to keep their respective plants alive. The Federal govt then chips in using the royalty money from Alberta's oil. It's actually a form of slavery to pay the inhabitants with their own money in my opinion. I mean who do the natural resources belong to ?
The Province tried to offer tax breaks in lieu but the car companies laughed and said " Is the trade minister in touch with reality ? We're not making any money right now because of our losses so we already don't pay taxes. Just give us the cash"
So that's why when you're at a stoplight in your Yaris, thereby doing your bit for the environment, you find yourself surrounded by 7-seat SUVs and pickup trucks all with 3.5L V6 engines minimum. Your lease cost for the import is $250, while lease costs for these subsidised Ontario built tractors will start around $299. All that extra value you can get for $49 is why small cars are not moving off lots. Governments must just stop the distortion they cause by interfering in the marketplace.
We've had massive layoffs recently mostly by the suppliers of automotive assemblies who were asleep at the switch. While thousands have been thrown out of work, however, there have been no mention of public servants having their salaries reduced.
I fear what will be changing is young people's perception that only government jobs are real, that work involving manufacturing and engineering are for the losers of society. There will, of course, always be well paid quasi-govt employees in the scientific sector who are prepared to work on machines that can kill people more effectively for what is euphemistically described as our Defence Dept.
This is probably too deep for most ABG readers but I say to them - just hang on a tick and something light and fluffy like this Prius topic will come up again in just a minute.
T2
Reply