Toyota Prius with Ewert Energy custom software, 70MPH no gas

For all of us here who own 2004-2010 Toyota Priu, and are not in the initial rolout states (as I am, "fall/winter 2011" availability), there are other options.

Ewert Energy has custom software that allows the Prius to run up to 70MPH in all electric mode, this combined with the new Lithium battery packs becoming available can yield up to 40 miles in ALL EV mode, on YOUR EXISTING Prius.

Yes, the "kit" might end up costing as much as $12,500, however, you already have the Toyota Prius "donor" vehicle, and the main point is, we can get it MUCH sooner,availability expected near the end of THIS year.

So no need to dump your Prius, this might just be the thing to do. my commute is 17 miles each way, 34 miles rountrip. I can probably make it all electric ROUNDTRIP without using any gas at all, and, you are still driving a Prius, if you need additional range, no issue with "100 mile" EV range anxiety, ever. Also, for those is mountain/hilly areas, the Prius can store additional energy thru regen in the pack, since the kit replaces the existing Toyota pack, with the larger 12.5KW pack. This conversion is even better than the upcomimg 2012 Plug in Prius by Toyota, which may only have a 13 mile EV range. This conversion makes your Prius better than a Chevy Volt, and you'll get better mileage when you are out of charge...

checkout the video on the Ewert Energy home page, and I also included a link for "plug in conversions" who is going to have the 12.5KW lithium pack with this custom software available "soon"

http://www.ewertenergy.com/

http://www.pluginconversions.com/picc_pressrelease61009.html

BTW, they demo'd this at "Green Drive Expo" in Madison recently..

mitch672 said:

For all of us here who own 2004-2010 Toyota Priu, and are not in the initial rolout states (as I am, "fall/winter 2011" availability), there are other options.

Ewert Energy has custom software that allows the Prius to run up to 70MPH in all electric mode, this combined with the new Lithium battery packs becoming available can yield up to 40 miles in ALL EV mode, on YOUR EXISTING Prius.

Yes, the "kit" might end up costing as much as $12,500, however, you already have the Toyota Prius "donor" vehicle, and the main point is, we can get it MUCH sooner,availability expected near the end of THIS year.

So no need to dump your Prius, this might just be the thing to do. my commute is 17 miles each way, 34 miles rountrip. I can probably make it all electric ROUNDTRIP without using any gas at all, and, you are still driving a Prius, if you need additional range, no issue with "100 miles" EV range anxiety, ever. Also, for those is mountain/hilly areas, the Prius can store additional energy thru regen in the pack, since the kit replaces the existing Toyota pack, with the larger 12.5KW pack. This conversion is even better than the upcomimg 2012 Plug in Prius by Toyota, which may only have a 13 mile EV range.

checkout the video on the Ewert Energy home page, and I also included a link for "plug in conversions" who is going to have the 12.5KW lithium pack with this custom software available "soon"

http://www.ewertenergy.com/

http://www.pluginconversions.com/picc_pressrelease61009.html

BTW, they demo'd this at "Green Drive Expo" in Madison recently..

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It sounds good for the people that STILL want to use gasoline, but not for me. I want to stop using ANY liquid or gaseous fuel.

I think this is a good way to get a PHEV/EREV vehicle for anyone who already has a Prius.

How does the battery warranty compare ? How about eating into the trunk space ?

leaffan, I do as well. I am NOT being given that choice now, by Nissan. The Leaf will not be available on the East coast until "Fall/Winter 2011". I would much rather just convert my Prius NOW, and use very little gasoline NOW. In an ideal world, I'd get the Leaf NOW (December 2010), but not many will have that choice.

getting 170MPG is still better than 50MPG, and for my use of the Prius, I will be ALL electric most of the time. Watch the video, they don't even warm up the engine, if they don't need it... this is probably the best conversion/software I have seen to date for the Prius.

evnow, the storage area under the rear deck of the Prius is consumed by the battery pack/charger, but not the trunk space. They also changeout the rear springs due to the additional weight.

mitch672 said:

leaffan, I do as well. I am NOT being given that choice now, by Nissan. The Leaf will not be available on the East coast until "Fall/Winter 2011". I would much rather just convert my Prius NOW, and use very little gasoline NOW. In an ideal world, I'd get the Leaf NOW (December 2010), but not many will have that choice.

getting 170MPG is still better than 50MPG, and for my use of the Prius, I will be ALL electric most of the time. Watch the video, they don't even warm up the engine, if they don't need it... this is probably the best conversion/software I have seen to date for the Prius.

evnow, the storage area under the rear deck of the Prius is consumed by the battery pack/charger, but not the trunk space. They also changeout the rear springs due to the additional weight.

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But you will need to run the gasoline engine periodically to keep it running smoothly and to keep the gasoline from turning to varnish. I had a bi-fuel celica gt-s (cng/gasoline), but about every 60 days (should have done it more often) I had to run the engine to keep the computer timing and use up the old gasoline.

leaffan said:

But you will need to run the gasoline engine periodically to keep it running smoothly and to keep the gasoline from turning to varnish. I had a bi-fuel celica gt-s (cng/gasoline), but about every 60 days (should have done it more often) I had to run the engine to keep the computer timing and use up the old gasoline.

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Absolutely - keep fuel stabilizer in the tank, and keep a bottle of alcohol water remover around as well. But those new habits are a lot less expensive than burning gasoline.

I think PICC's newest system gives a 60 mile range as well.

Sure, you are going to use some gas, it's still a hybrid.

Still, 2 tanks a year is much better than 2 tanks a month.

Is it worth the price? Well, probably, though it never has a payback financially, but it does environmentally

Your signature is Incorrect. It will be replacing your volt.

Sent from droid x Using speech to text

DaveinOlyWA said:

Your signature is Incorrect. It will be replacing your volt.

Sent from droid x Using speech to text

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Eh? No Volt here, and not about to buy one, $41K + a $20K "dealer markup", plus they are hardly making any of them...

adding a $12.5K 40-60mile 12.5KW Lithium EV pack to a 2010 Prius doesn't make it a Volt, it makes it SUPERIOR to a Volt. The Volt's going to get about 40-42mpg in "Charge Sustained" mode, the 2010 Prius easily does 45-50MPG (factory), plus since the orignal battery pack is replaced with a much larger 12.5KW version, much more regen can be captured before the pack is "topped off". I'm pretty disalusioned with the Leaf, no L3 standard port, no availability for over 1.5 years on the east coast, etc. The PICC 40-60 mile EV conversion for the 2010 Prius, that can happen later THIS year, less than 4 months away.

mitch672 said:

The Volt's going to get about 40-42mpg in "Charge Sustained" mode...

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Doubt it. More like around 35.

But ofcourse, what Dave is saying is that you won't have a BEV but a PHEV. Good thing is you can buy a BEV down the road (if you are a 2 car household) - and your total gas consumption will be down 95%.

I'm just planning to do this the otherway round, but a BEV first and then a PHEV.

The other thing incorrect in your signature is the year of the LEAF deposit/reservation.

evnow said:

mitch672 said:

The Volt's going to get about 40-42mpg in "Charge Sustained" mode...

Click to expand...

Doubt it. More like around 35.

But ofcourse, what Dave is saying is that you won't have a BEV but a PHEV. Good thing is you can buy a BEV down the road (if you are a 2 car household) - and your total gas consumption will be down 95%.

I'm just planning to do this the otherway round, but a BEV first and then a PHEV.

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As far as BEV vs PHEV, who cares? the goal is to use less gasoline. If most of my roundtrips commutes are less than 40-60 miles (estimated PICC EV pack range), and it's programmed to heavily favor all electric operation (engine will not start or be warmed up, unless you choose hybrid mode), then I am accomplishing the same goal, without waiting for the Leaf, and without having to dump my 2010 Prius.

Why must it be %100 no gas, or nothing, I really don't understand. Sure, it's great to be all electric, but it really isn't all it's cracked up to be, yet. I know you understand this, but many on this forum simply don't get it.

basiclly, I see no real advantage to waiting 1.5 years for a possibly mediocre EV, without a DC fast charger, and with 100 mile (estimated range). I already have a hybrid with ~500 mile range on an 10 gallon tank. With an EV conversion, I can do %90 of my daily driving all-electric, and when I do exceed the range, I don't have to stop, plugin, find a fast charging station, etc. I think the PHEV will be far more convienent for the next 3-5 years, until the EV infrastructure is built out in the ENTIRE country, not just "EV Project" areas.

there will be many more EV choices down the road as well.

P.S. my 2nd car is a 1994 Chevy Suburban, used to plow and move large objects, don't really need a 3rd vehicle.

mitch672 said:

Why must it be %100 no gas, or nothing, I really don't understand. Sure, it's great to be all electric, but it really isn't all it's cracked up to be, yet. I know you understand this, but many on this forum simply don't get it.

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There is an inherent attraction in "purity". Thats why we like organic food or vegetarian diet etc.

The reason I decided to get a BEV instead of PHEV is that I already have another ICE (like you). A BEV gets me to reduce gas usage more than a PHEV. So, do you plan to replace your suburban with a BEV when one you like becomes available ? BTW, were you planning to replace Prius with Leaf or the Suburban ?

The suburban has a 7.5' Fisher plow used for snow plowing, probably 10-15 days per winter, during the summer it's only used to haul large bulky items that don't fit inthe Prius.

It would be difficult (read: pretty much impossible) right now to replace a suburban used for plowing with a BEV, besides that I only used less than 1 tank per year or so on the suburban.

The idea was to replace or add to the Prius, to use no gasoline, but it probably makes more sense to add the PICC EV kit to the existing 2010 Prius, given the availability of the Leaf on the east coast (fall/winter 2011). From a practical and cost view, the EV kit makes more sense for me as well.

I own 2 priuses. you will have to look far and wide to find the greater proponent of prius technology. And a plug in prius Of 1 type or another Is very most likely In my future.

However The question really boils down to Does it burn gas Or not

DaveinOlyWA said:

I own 2 priuses. you will have to look far and wide to find the greater proponent of prius technology. And a plug in prius Of 1 type or another Is very most likely In my future.

However The question really boils down to Does it burn gas Or not

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Sure, but the PICC kit has a mode that is pure electric to 70MPH, if that's what you want. Of course using some gas, you will do better for somethings, and of course the prius heater needs to run the engine. Again, I don't feel the need to use no fuel at all, keeping it down to a few tanks per year is just fine with me

OK, this sounds like a significant, real possibility that I should be evaluating.

1. 40 mile EV-mode range on some Lithium type 12.5 kWh battery. (substantially improving upon their previous NiMH 17 to 25 mile battery)

2. Replacing the control firmware with carefully-designed truely PHEV functional software. (not just trying to "trick" the standard Prius software)

3. Remove the spare tire (and probably the present 1.4 kWh battery, and probably using the "under-floor" storge) to put in the new battery pack, adding new support springs to handle the extra weight. (Is the weight-balance too far to the rear?).

4. Adding a charge port of some kind, and a charger? (2-hour, 6.6 kW charger?)

5. Adding a good battey-cell monitoring, balancing, and protection system? (what are they doing in this critically-important area?)

Their web site does not yet appear to have details. Is their headquarters in Poway, CA? Perhaps I need to call, make an appointment, and go chat with them.

Is there a person there that I should ask to talk to?

on a "PriusChat" thread about this, it was suggested I contact this company
http://www.lusciousgarage.com/ and speak with "Carolyn", this was from Eric Powers, who is the GreenDrive Expo Organizer...

Here is the PC thread as well: http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-phv-plug-in/83586-picc-ewert-2004-2010-40-60-mile-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicle-conversion.html

You could also call the Ewert Brothers directly, there is a contact # on their website, or try calling PICC as well, and see what they are saying. Since you are in CA, you are somewhat closer to them, than I am here in Boston..

Found more:

http://lusciousgarage.com/services/sections/cat/modifications

"High Voltage Projects

Plug-In Conversions

Luscious Garage is proud to offer conversions from Plug-In Conversions of Poway, CA. Click here for more information:

PICC Certified Prius Plug-In Installer

Plug-in conversions are a major investment. Serious inqueries contact [email protected]

Demonstrations available by appointment"

Found a nice "DIY" Gen2 (2004-2009) PRIUS PHEV conversion on Priuschat, checkout "pEEf"'s work, very professional and well done, now if we could only get him to either work with a mfr to produce a kit, or put out the detailed info so we could all "DIY" this, without all of the engineering, that would be great...

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-technical-discussion/86836-update-technical-details-my-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicle-project.html

For me, I also have to look at the ROI. Thus, $12,500 to covert a Prius so that it can go 40 miles on pure electric is DOA for me (I drive 58 miles round trip daily). The payback would be somewhere around never... Others may have other reasons to do so and that is fine, but the financial aspect versus return has to be a consideration as well for me.

Tom

mitch672 said:

Ewert Energy has custom software that allows the Prius to run up to 70MPH in all electric mode, this combined with the new Lithium battery packs becoming available can yield up to 40 miles in ALL EV mode, on YOUR EXISTING Prius.

Yes, the "kit" might end up costing as much as $12,500, however, you already have the Toyota Prius "donor" vehicle, and the main point is, we can get it MUCH sooner,availability expected near the end of THIS year.

Click to expand...