EV World video interview with Kim Adelman, founder of San Diego-based Plug-In Conversions Corporation
Open Access Article Originally Published: November 17, 2007
Kim Adelman's electric, plug-in Prius is, admittedly, a work in progress. You can tell that from the makeshift tie-down straps holding the car's extra nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in place and the open bundles of wire snaking through the cargo compartment.
The Prius' cornflower yellow and mint green paint scheme, however, is gorgeous.
It was the Toyota hybrid's stunning exterior that attracted me to car, which Adelman had cunningly parked just off the street to the entrance of Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. I had to get a photo of it and that's when I ran into the owner and founder of Plug-In Conversions, based in San Diego, California. I had first met him at the premier of "Who Killed the Electric Car?" in LA in 2006. He was chatting with Chelsea Sexton, who has herself become a celebrity of sort after appearing in Chris Paine's highly successful documentary about the tragic fate of GM's EV1 electric car.
After taking me for a short drive down the street and back, I got Adelman to talk on camera about how he became involved with the grid-recharged hybrid car movement, which he describes as a "vortex" into which he was inexorably pulled, in large part because of an email announcement he came across from a battery maker in Colorado.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the interview is Adelman's admission that having 25-40 miles of EV-only driving range, which requires a significant investment in very expensive lithium batteries, isn't nearly as important as he originally thought it would be. While his personal car, which is the test bed for his conversion kit, has an electric-only driving range (at speeds below 35 mph) of up to 25 miles, he has discovered that a smaller battery can still deliver dramatic improvements in fuel economy. He estimates that even a car with just 8 miles electric-only range will get the equivalent of 100 mpg for the first 16 miles. And assuming you can recharge the car during the day for the drive back home at night, you can achieve the same fuel efficiency as a car with a larger, more costly battery pack.
This is why he is planning on offer three different conversion options, each with a successively larger battery pack with the lowest priced model (8 mile EV-range) targeted to cost $8000 installed, a process that will be done at the owner's location in just one day.
It's a bold scheme, but Adelman concludes it's critically needed because he sees the world caught in a "planetary emergency" requiring bold action; of which plug-in conversions can be an important tool to reducing oil dependence and ultimately greenhouse gas emissions.
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Reader Comments
6 comments so far...
21-Nov-2007
59287
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Could you use lead-acid batteries instead of NiMH? Wouldn't be cheaper than the $8000 for only 8 miles on EV? What I know the EV1 had a much higher range than 8 miles. Am I missing something?
Posted by: John Baker
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25-Nov-2007
59323
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Response to John Baker
You certainly can use lead-acid batteries to make a plug-in Prius, and doing so certainly does lower the cost of the project. Of course, you need more batteries to go the same distance, but I know of at least one lead-acid conversion which worked quite well. Look around in http://www.eaaev.org/. I think they have some info on lead-acid projects there.
Posted by: F BB
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31-Jan-2008
60193
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JB, I'd never use lead. Look at calcars.org , their first plugin with lead acid didn't last a year, was heavy and lead is toxic.
We need to move away from cheap and look at life cycle cost. If the altairnano lithium batteries last 500,000 miles and lead acid is 10,000 what could would you be willing to pay ? (that's 50 times longer lasting) and lighter and non toxic and more powerful
We took the lead out of paint, out of our water and toys. Let's take it out of our vehicles and look for long lasting results. Cheaper is not less expensive in the long run.
Our power is the same way. Coal and Natural Gas look cheap but cost a lot in pollution and water use. Solar and wind look like they would cost you more but have fuel that costs zero, make no pollution and use no water.
Clean is green for tje environment and your pocket.
Posted by: jim stack
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13-Jan-2008
59965
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Renault-Nissan are supposed to run a production of all-electric cars by 2010. Have I missed something?
Looks a bit over-optimistic as I have not heard of any EV activity from them.
Posted by: Robert Wolffberg
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19-Nov-2007
59249
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Great story , the NiMH battery is very good and ready now. This company will be producing very good PHEVs before anyone.
Posted by: jim stack
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19-Nov-2007
59252
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How do I sign up to offer this service in my area?
Posted by: greg collins
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