Open Access Article Originally Published: June 05, 2005
There are some of us who never understood the `complaint' that you had to plug a battery-electric car in. Like I really would miss the trip to the gas station? They haven't given me a free cup or a scratch-to-win card in decades! So when I heard that a plug-in Prius was not only coming to the Tour de Sol, but was participating in the Monte Carlo Rally, I was really excited.
Greg Hanssen, Vice President of Energy Control Systems Engineering (EnergyCS) was explaining the plug-in Prius that his company and Valence Technology have created.
The idea of a plug-in hybrid is to charge the batteries by plugging in every night and then drive as much as you can on 2 cents per mile house current and only then use the 4 cents per mile gasoline. Clearly quoting just the gasoline mileage is not a true measure, but saying "I'm getting 100 miles per gallon" will get people's attention.
"People understand what a gallon of gas costs, but they don't understand what kiloWatt-hour of electricity costs, or even what a kiloWatt-hour of electricity IS! So we've been focusing more on the national security side of the story; the petroleum reduction is really the hot topic right now."
Maybe that's true most places, but the Tour de Sol is not most places. Lots of people who visited the car at the Tour displays wanted to understand the technology and what its benefits are.
"Aside from the battery system in the back of the car and the little display and control module up on the dashboard, this is a stock Toyota Prius. We've taken out the 80 pound, 1.3 kiloWatt-hour nickel metal hydride battery that came with the car, as well as the battery controller, and replaced them with a 250 pound, 9 kiloWatt-hour Valence Saphion lithium ion battery system, with our own EnergyCS control system on top of it.
EnergyCS is working with a company in Los Angles called Clean Tech to start a new company called EDrive Systems which will commercialize this system. We expect that by early 2006 we will have a upgrade option for sale, between $10,000 to $12,000. Right now the batteries alone cost more than that. But we are working on ways to integrate it and repackage it, and Valence is working on new chemistries and packaging methods for the battery cells and modules, to bring it down to that price point.
"We supply a 1 kiloWatt, 110 Volts AC battery charger. If the 9 kiloWatt hour battery we provide were totally empty it would take 9 hours to charge it to full.
"With the battery fully charged, we trick the Toyota hybrid system, without modifying it. We turn on the Electric Vehicle mode where the car drives strictly on battery below 34 miles per hour. Above 34 mhp we convince the Toyota hybrid controller that the battery needs to be discharged by telling it that the battery is full." The car tries to bring it back down again, to the 80% state-of-charge it likes.
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Reader Comments
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19 comments so far...
01-Jan-2007
43005
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I really love the idea of a plug in hybrid; in fact, we are going to hold off buying another vehicle until one is available. However, it seems to me that the ideas for adding solar, etc., are not feasible. The total power from the sun (best case) is about 300 watts per square meter, and I doubt more than 3 square meters of space could be made available. That is a KW, however, I believe conversion efficiency is, at best, 10 percent or so. So, 100W, and we need 10KW? Sounds like a trivial amount of the needed power would result. Am I missing something? Of course, I am only a patent attorney, but I used to be an engineer, and I am pretty confident of those numbers.
Posted by: Gene Cavanaugh
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18-Aug-2006
30979
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A year ago Cary Smith wrote about the addition of the solar panel in the back window. I believe this would be a very smart idea. I also think small windmills in the rearview mirrors could help in becoming totally self-sufficient while driving. The only problem I see with this is the drag that would be produced. Maybe there could be a switch that the driver could activate when he/she needed more energy. Hydrogen fuel cells could also be another great complement to the already green vehicle.
Posted by: Perry Silvey
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11-Jul-2006
28040
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Yes-if this car were on sale now I would buy one.
I live in Japan and a lot of the time and am waiting for this type of vehicle to become available here.
I use my vehicle for short distances and when the weather necessitates car use.
Why can't I buy one now?
My money is waiting.
Posted by: Chris Harris
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11-Nov-2005
10885
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You would think that the electric motor controler programming would have the electric motor come on when the gas engine computer detects an increase in load when climbing hills on the highway. This would improve highway economy and keep the cars speed consistent while climbing hills.
Rod Schrank
Posted by: Rod Schrank
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16-Aug-2005
8897
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If one minor change was made to this Edrive system, it would enable longer commutes at the same mileage rate as shorter by adding a solar panel in the back hatch glass that auto-raises when ignition turned off, charging up the auxiliary pack throughout the day. You might not ever have to plug in the car if you always parked it outside."
Posted by: Cary Smith
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23-Aug-2005
9000
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Has anyone looked at using 6V or 12 V deep cycle golf cart batteries? They are readily available off the shelf, and a low cost, well used technology. While they would add some extra weight (maybe 150-200 lbs) over the high priced battery used in this article- the cost is not even close (10-15% of what this battery runs)..
Posted by: TERRY WHITMAN
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06-Jun-2005
7935
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Great story! For technical details including a printable fact sheet, and background on the effort to promote these cars, see http://www.priusplus.org"
Posted by: Felix Kramer
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06-Jun-2005
7936
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Very interesting article. It does a great job explaining the plug in hybrid concept and helped me understand better how the technology works and is implemented."
Posted by: Marc Odden
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06-Jun-2005
7937
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If this country had gone Meteric, people could
understand the connection: 100HP = 74.3KW"
Posted by: dursun sakarya
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06-Jun-2005
7938
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THESE WILL SELL FAST, for $10K or so you can drive with almost no gas. What a great deal. I hope more manufactureres start to get the message. Many people want clean cars and will pay more for them.
As there are more available and more batteries produced the cost will come down just like PC's and CellPhones.
Jim "
Posted by: Jim Stack
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06-Jun-2005
7939
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If you started a common set of metrics that showed: 1. How much the US's dependence on oil would decrease if 10,30, or 50% of the cars in the US were plug in hybrids and 2. What a normal car owner would save on an annual basis, I think that would get a lot of attention. Continue this in each report to keep getting attention. I just purchased the Lexus Hybrid and it is fantastic. I cannot wait for the plug in capability!"
Posted by: Randy Baker
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06-Jun-2005
7940
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EDrive's URL, by the way, is http://www.edrivesystems.com -- right now only one page, but stay tuned for more from them and from calcars.org"
Posted by: Felix Kramer
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06-Jun-2005
7941
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The battery prices will indeed have to come down a LOT, or the government will have to subsidize the vehicles, in order for a plug-in hybrid to make financial sense for most people. According to the calculator at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/savemoney.shtml it will take a plug-in hybrid owner that averages 125 mpg 7 years of 20,000 miles per year to save back the $10,000 in gas over driving a car getting only 25 mpg, assuming gas costs of $2.40 per gallon. (And that doesn't count the cost of electricity for charging the batteries...)
Obviously these factors could change dramatically - we may be soon looking back whistfully at current gas prices - but the sad fact is that gas is still just a minor expense compared to the overall cost of a vehicle."
Posted by: Oskar Austegard
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06-Jun-2005
7948
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Oskar's comments are true, but you don't need to keep the car that long - it will be reflected in the resale price, just like A/C or automatic transmission is today. People don't spend a lot of time and worry thinking if those options are worth the money, indeed, they don't make you money at all!
Given that cars last about 12-15 years, I think it will pay for itself over the lifetime of the car."
Posted by: Rob Neff
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07-Jun-2005
7969
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All we ever hear about is fuel costs, this is only a small part of the equation, the only part of a hybrid likely to wear out is the IC engine, with the EDrive system it will probably run half as much, Toyotas are already going 300K miles so I expect to drive my 04 Prius the rest of my life (I'm 52). I don't even see much brake dust on my wheels, the regenerative braking works so well. Of course I'ld have bought it just because of the low emmisions, saving money is just icing on the cake. So when I die just put me in it and bury me in the grease pit. Ha Ha!"
Posted by: David Kennington
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09-Jun-2005
8003
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Why in the world doesn't Toyota jump on this and make it viable for mass consumption. I'm sure they have the resources to do it post haste. At this point it looks like Gepetto the stone age wheel maker (the plug in guys) puttering away in his little cave and being ignored by the giant stone age sled factory in the cavern next door. Hello out there! I an't buyin till there's a plug in available."
Posted by: Kevin Kelly
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10-Jun-2005
8010
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MPG tax:low MPG=big tax,high MPG=big tax credit."
Posted by: Gerald Nicholson
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09-Aug-2005
8771
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Je suis très intéréssé par la Prius.
Avant d'investir j'aimerais me renseigner sur les améliorations.
Quelqu'un peut il me parler du nouveau kit batterie?
Y a t il un club en France?
Le prix du neuf ainsi que de l'occasion est encore très élevé; combien de temps pour le rentabiliser?etc...
Merci pour vos réponses"
Posted by: Edouard Roussac
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13-Oct-2005
10204
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I can not figure out why this is going so slowly and has not been taken up by the OEM's. The Valence battery materials are not expensive and with mass production the costs should be reasonable. The 8 to 10 year battery life could be improved by using Ultra capacitors to help reduce the number of battery charges and discharges from the regenerative breaking. What am I missing?
Posted by: David Thomas
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