I just bought a Prius Prime Plus. PHEV can go up to 89mph in electric. Love it. So far I am diving better than expected. It says 25 miles on an electric charge, I'm getting 40 miles
I have a regular 2017 Prius and the car is super versatile. It will go 117 MPH on a track (dont ask), tows 1,250 lbs (yes the newer ones are allowed to tow), and I have driven from my home in Missouri to Minneapolis which is over 600 miles away, on one tank of gas.
I discovered your video when it first came out and converted my 2007 Prius with a 4.5 kW system. Two years ago, I upgraded the batteries to an 18 kWh Nissan Leaf setup and added solar panels on the roof. I still use my Prius today, and it works perfectly. Thanks for sharing this with us. It's all your fault!
@@jerryorange6983 The car was initially set up for highways, not 100% EV. I'll be running tests soon to see how far I can go with a full tank and the 18 kWh batteries. I expect to easily exceed 1,000 km (over 700 miles). Additionally, I'll be adding solar panels all over the car. I'm not a tech expert; I just experiment by adding parts to the car. Often, these tests become permanent due to their effectiveness. ruclips.net/video/q3z28DAs9KM/видео.html
I have a 2010 Prius with the factory solar panel. It's a pet peeve of mine that it's almost useless, being used ONLY for running the fan blower when the car is off, and nothing more. I know it provides enough power to charge a cell phone, camera battery, emergency flashlight, or other small gadget connected to the 12v outlet. I've been looking for someone who has rigged it to power the standard 12v outlets (or an additional added one or two), or maybe even rigged it to trickle charge the 12v battery. *Anything* would be better than having it just waste free power. Sitting in the sun all day at work, or sitting in the sun parked at the lake or beach - I could be charging my camera batteries without having to have the engine run (which I do now). I just think there could be a better use of the unique feature we have of a built-in solar panel!
I had solar panels installed on my home with the intent i would trade my third generation 3 prius for the next generation plug in prius. That dream has come true. I have the car programmed to be charged by noon when i do most of my daily driving. I love the thought of having my car charged by solar energy.
Tesla is building what is called the gigafactory in Nevada that will produce lithium batteries. The gigafactory will eventually produce more battery kWs per year than the entire world produced last year. The entire factory will run on wind and solar power and recycle the used batteries which incidentally still have life in them. The gigafactory will eventually employ 6,000 people at $25 per hour and up. Google gigafactory and see what you think of the potential environmental benefits. By the way the Tesla car manufacturing plant in California currently has 6,000 employees.
The Lithium batteries are getting better and better. I have found they work best/last longer when you don't let them drain down below about 60% of a full-charge on a regular basis. Recycling has not reached the level of Nickel-Metal Hydride yet though.
Now in 2020 these cars are old and cheap, as are used, yet still viable solar arrays as ppl update their home systems. I own three Prius this model, 1.2 million kms between them, one battery pack replaced. I bought a 1kw solar system for $350 and currently trying to work towards what David has here. I'll likely use cheaper, used batteries to feed into the OEM pack so the ECU see's a full pack and gtlides in EV as much as possible. We don't need to be millionaires, all we need is around us, just the skills, knowledge and will.
Hi David, I am in Australia and in the process of installing a 10KW Plugin Supply system in my 2008 Prius. .. you live in a beautiful place - with your own pond! Love your work. All the best. Eric EVPlus
Hi Rennie, Please see the blog on my website www.evplus.com.au - It's going great . We are getting a long term average of 2.7L/100km (over 87mpg). This includes a lot of hill work at high speed. We normally fill up after doing aroun1700km (over 1000miles) I like the "Kill Gas" switch which makes it into and electric car.
Very cool. You've already put in a lot of work into this car, have you thought about adding solar panels to the roof for additional efficiency? Would be curious to see how that fares with your car.
7suprasonic I already have a pole mounted solar system that supplies a little more than the electricity used by the car. The cars surface is really too small to produce much electricity...maybe in the future when solar panels become much more efficient.
Where on earth can we get this? Like, I just bought a Gen 2 Prius and have been looking at adding battery storage to take advantage of surplus solar power I have at times. But I've yet to find a kit that works as you're describing.
You measure > 10KW charging because of charging inefficiencies, not because the pack is > 10KW. Charging is not free, you lose power AC -> DC and you lose power to heat.
Did you replace the engine? The electric one in the Toyota has 30 HP, so it won't reach high speeds, maxing out at 40 km/h. Then the combustion engine kicks in. How did you resolve this issue?
Very cool. I haven’t owned a car for the last 20 yrs cause i lived in NYC. But i want my next vehicle to be electric. I wanted to do vanlife, but currently there are no electric vans available. Nissan only released the electric NV200 in Europe. And VW is coming out with an electric ID Buzz van with a 375mile range, quick charge & solar panel on roof that’ll give it an extra 10 mile range...but it isn’t coming until 2023. So i started looking at alternatives. Tesla is out of my price range. The nissan Leaf is an option. But the Prius is more roomy to sleep in. So i am thinking of getting a used Prius and doing something similar to you. Then eventually i can swap out for an electric van when they become a thing.
Hi there. I'm a little confused. Unless I'm mistaken, I thought you said that the Prius was originally just a regular gas-driven car. If that is the case, where did the electric motors come from? If it used a regular transmission, there would be no need for electric motors. Great job on your car, by the way. It's definitely a keeper. Thank you for your time. Best regards, Alan L. Janover
+ajanover55 Originally from the factory my Prius had a gas and electric motor with a 4kw battery pack but could not be plugged in to recharge. The factory setup helped to get the good gas milege Prius is known for and the battery pack was recharged while driving. The electric motor was really just assisting the small gas motor.
amazing, I would buy prius too. First I need house. Do you still have your prius 2.Gen with this modification running ? if so, did you change anytything?
Tomas Titak Yes I have the Prius with the batteries still working...a little less range at this point. Haven’t made any further modifications...this was a good step for me to get further involved with solar energy and batteries.
@@DavidGrothsculpture I want to do it for my gen 3 Prius, but didn't see anyone that did it🤨 They only do it to gen 2.. now they say is not worth anymore (not cost effective). No ecu hack. No out of gas hack. No PHVE conversions😥 And only 30 mph on EV mode.. (=no ECU hack..) And worst thing is, the cooling system is horrible!! So I want to replace it also... And the battery is outdated also.. NIMH 🤨 I need Lion.. So im fucked up pretty much.. The only way I'm going to do it, is if I'm really want to spend my time doing what I like.. (I'm not pro ofc)
It all looks nice, but what about a cooling of additional battery? Doesn't it need it at all? It has been a couple of years since this film was here, so can you please say something about batteries vitality? Still working fine?
I recently sold the Prius. The batteries had reduced mileage however still worked and there was no cooling besides air flow. We have now upgraded to a model Y Tesla…great car and batteries are cooled.
@@DavidGrothsculpture Thanks for answer! But you can say that Prius's retrofit paid off definitely, can't you? I'd like to have such batteries in the one I own ;)
The battery addition probably wasn’t a financial success…however I enjoyed having them. Most importantly they got me into Tesla…and by the way in about a year Tesla is supposed to produce a $25k car.
Hi there I am from Pakistan owning a 2014 model Toyota Aqua aka Prius C. Your system is really cool & looks great. Can you share the car's portion, technical detail on how can I do it? The solar thing I can do myself here. Your help will be highly appreciated!
Robb Protheroe installed and designed the software and hardware for my system. It is quite complicated as the programming must work with the Prius software. He no longer is in this business and I have upgraded to a Tesla. Sorry I can't be of any help but good luck!
+Filippo PDM When I had the system installed by Robb (the owner of PLUG-IN-SUPPLY) the total cost was $12,500. I could have saved a $1,000 if I had installed it myself with the directions provided on the PLUG-IN-SUPPLY website. I wouldn't say you can save in gas savings the cost of the system, but I do get terrific mileage out of a gallon of gas.
I still drive with the system...probably been at least four years. The range on the batteries has decreased...however I suspect it is due the batteries all needing to be reset because over time they get off from one another. At some point I'll have Robb reset the system.
He is very intelligent, yes, for the way he set this up....but it looks like it is costing WAY WAY WAY more money to run this car than fuel would cost....and I dont know how smart that is .......unless cost is no object, and its all about low emissions
Hi Dave just found your site fun stuff I see you spell your last name the same as I do Bob Groth not to many of us that have the name spelled this way I live in Washington state.
What's the update with the battery back as of almost a year later. The quality of the batteries and conditioning, overall fuel economy change, reliability? I'm considering doing just the 4kw upgrade but I'm trying to dig a bit more and it's hard to find current users. Please help lol.
I currently have an updated version of software from when the system was originally installed almost 2 1/2 years ago. Of course there is only a certain amount of energy stored in the 10k batteries...currently I can get more miles per gallon when in the mixed driving mode. Considering driving conditions vary...I used to get 98-100 driving miles in mixed mode before using the charge up and 70-75 miles per gallon. Currently with the new software I get 70-75 driving miles in mixed mode and 96-100 miles per gallon. When in EV mode I can get about 32 miles...that figure of course wouldn't change until the life of the batteries decrease. So far none of the batteries in my system have failed or needed replacement. Don't forget Robb Protheroe has been in business developing his system for quite a few years while most of the others in the same business have failed..he keeps making improvements and is responsive if an issue comes up. Hope this helps!
It does. Thank you very much. Well idk where they're located but if they're in SoCal it would be really cool to experience the upgrade in person or at least more videos on it other than just the ones they have posted and your own so that more consumers can see there product and how to build they diy battery packs. Do the packs contain everything and then you just take the negative and positive terminals and attach them to the prius hybrid battery?
Robb Protheroe is located in the Marin area and on the PLUG-IN-SUPPLY website there are directions for installing the battery system yourself. I had Robb install the system but could do it myself at this point.
I've been sharing this video to friends over the last 6 years, one of them just bought a Prius and didn't even know you could modify them like this. It's funny but after all this time, even with the gigafactory completed and multiple years into full battery production Tesla's can still easily price out at $70,000+ and are still heavily impractical compared with the Prius. The famed $35,000 Model 3 never happened and instead we still see prices almost twice what the car originally projected at. Now being 2020 there's no exuse why everyone including the government should be pushing for hybrid upgrades such as this but instead you can't find companies willing to install them meanwhile there's an overinsured Tesla sitting on every street corner.
Sadly, the Oil, Gas, and Energy companies watched this video, and hatched a scheme to ensure even electricity on a par with fossil fuel…no, I know, he’s got a solar panel. The problem is, I’ve realised, the car is the little bit at the end of a rather long road to using electricity to drive with! You can buy an electric car used, not great, but for less than maybe $10k. It doesn’t have to be great, it just has to plug-in. The real money, is for the solar panels, the batteries, etc, to make your electricity in the first place. If you have a home power station, EVs make massive sense, definitely. But if not, a decent Toyota Hybrid is as economical as you can get for the money spent. And, as I have discovered, when you look at getting a load of solar panels on your roof, the first thing they’ll do, is assess your state of rot in your roof trusses etc…this is the trouble, you end up beginning with several grand on a roof, then several grand on a set of solar panels etc, then maybe eventually, you get to the car part. Big EGO (Electricity, Gas & Oil) as I call them, just rules the world, and they call the shots, and they wind up prices for fun. We are literally held to ransom. It is ridiculous that you have to self-fund all your own solar panels, batteries etc, before you can economically drive an EV or similar PHEV or whatever. The whole point of distribution lines, was so it could be generated centrally. If those days are over, we need infrastructure spending galore. And there that will sit in the post-pandemic world. Take care all.
10 KW hr is the capacity of the battery, not 10 KW. KW is power, the rate of using energy. Energy is KW hr, the total power used over time. That is, energy = power * time, actually energy = the integral of power with respect to time. Also, power = energy/time, again in calculus terms power = the derivative of energy with respect to time.
Half mile from the ocean is,always more cloudy "night and morning clouds" is standard weather forecast every day. They burn off after couple hours like by 10 a.m. and come back about 5 p.m. further inland rarely has night & morning. It's sunny all the time.
Recently, the California senate nazi's mandated that gas & electric hybrid vehicles must now be subject to smog checks also. Does the upgrade affect the smog emissions in any way? Is the upgrade frowned upon by B.A.R. or are they actually supportive of this upgrade? I don't see how they (or ANYBODY) could have a single negative thing to say.
+Joshua Rialto Since I bought the Prius new in 2007 there hasn't been a requirement for me to have any smog checks. The car emissions should be the same with or without the battery pack add-on. All the battery pack add-on does is give the Prius additional battery storage to draw from without changing the car or car computer settings. Mainly the Prius is a computer run car and that is why the additional battery pack could be added on with some additional software to make the Prius computer think it has more battery storage to keep drawing from. That is all I know concerning your questions...hope this helps.
$6000??? just for the solar panel setup?? For 400 miles a month? thats supposed to be a good deal? A regular Prius could drive 400 miles on 9 gallons of gas. Thats $22.50 a month at the current price of $2.50 a gallon. Thats $270.00 a year to cover those 400 miles/month of local driving. Thats 18.5 years just to break even on the solar setup. And the car conversion cost even more??? wow. EXPENSIVE!!
first he is a pioneer,so a cost loss is on premises.That set up was made somewhere between 2013/2014.Now,2018 price of solar panels drop down a lot,provably same set up u pay 0.70/1.00 dollar per watt plus a solar inverter I would say no more than 2000/2500 dollars.However u can show respect for who try rather than criticize his willingness to improve this world out of a brilliant idea..Soon this set up will be more affordable for everyone,maybe not for u..
+EL DIESTRO DIY Lets be honest a lot of people hate the prius, me included, but I love the technology ideas. If they made a crx in 89 that got mid 50s there should be a car on the market that can get 60-70+. FYI when I say I hate the prius I just mean id never buy one I would buy a civic or if i wasnt concerned about MPG id get a Subaru.
+EL DIESTRO DIY Because what it takes to produce those batteries for those cars is far, far more toxic than a gasoline engine could ever be. Heavy metals in batteries are absolutely horrible for the environment.
+peniswrinkle lol seriously did you forget all the pollution gasoline burn produce versus a battery packs with life span of 5 or more years and can be recycled/re manufactured since those kind of life or lipo cells technology. those are not regular lead acid battery like the ones comes in each car truck motorcycle in the world!!!!
Purely on $ economics it sounds like a bad investment. Obviously from an environmental perspective it's a good thing, but the cost of panels, batteries chargers etc. costs more than the gasoline saved.
etmax1 In my case that is true...however in Julie's case (she is doing the interview) she has had 22 roof installed solar panels for 5 years and they soon will have paid for themselves. After that the electricity they produce will be free.
Thanks for responding, Does Julie use hers for house use or is it also for a car? We have a 4kW system and with feed in tariffs we reach break even in about 7 years but we went for a premium inverter and panels and the installer had a good reputation which I believe accounts for something. The big problem with cars is the battery cost and that and charge time. Just fore work and bumming around town I could get by with a 120m range but I would need a second car for holidays and sometimes weekends although your modified hybrid would work too. Problem is still ROI isn't there, not considering environmental benefits
Julie's is for her house and business. For me the addition of the 10kw battery system to my Prius has been an interesting learning experience that isn't cost effective (I was aware of this from the beginning)...however without that I probably wouldn't have been saving for a Tesla Model 3. So next I'll be driving all electric in 1 to 2 years. I won't mind the half charge time on a trip of 20-30 minutes at the superchargers. Overnight charging at home on 220 volts is not a problem. I'm hoping to get a battery pack with 300+ miles per charge.
Thanks for posting! To clarify, you get 70mpg *after* depleting the electric only drive, or is that only if you don't do an all-electric stint? (not sure how the battery pack is integrated into car). First scenario is better of course, but either way, amazing mileage! I have a 2007 (standard, not converted) and get around 40mpg consistently. Do you know if these conversion kits are still available for purchase? I've looked around a bit over the last 5 years but didn't see anything current. If you have a link to one that is, I'd be very grateful to receive info! Thanks!!
To my knowledge these kits are no longer available. The current technology has gone quite far beyond altering a Prius with all electric cars now. Tesla will come out by the end of this year with an electric car for between $20,000 and $25,000. Subtract the federal $7500 and you will have a sub $20,000…close to $15,000
Thanks! I didn't realize that they were coming out with such an affordable option. There are various reasons I'd probably still be interested in a conversion, one being that I heard (will have to re:check the info) that the amount of energy it takes to go into producing a new car has a higher co2 footprint than keeping your old gas-using car. But thanks for the tip (I don't follow electric/car release info much). @@DavidGrothsculpture
I like you David ....you are a positive active gifted pleasant and calm man.
Stay the path
Very generous comment, thank you!
Man when u started talking about the weight distribution that just made me want it even more.
I just bought a Prius Prime Plus. PHEV can go up to 89mph in electric. Love it. So far I am diving better than expected. It says 25 miles on an electric charge, I'm getting 40 miles
Candycane
Congratulations! 👏😃
Thats awesome. What kind of Average MPG do you get? And how long do have to charge it?
What does phev mean?
I have a regular 2017 Prius and the car is super versatile. It will go 117 MPH on a track (dont ask), tows 1,250 lbs (yes the newer ones are allowed to tow), and I have driven from my home in Missouri to Minneapolis which is over 600 miles away, on one tank of gas.
Smart people like you inspire me.
Many thanks.
Thanks David for being an early adopter pushing the renewable energy industry forward. I hope to have a modified Prius in the near future.
Great...good luck!
What an impressive man you are.
I never knew either of my grandfathers.
But if I could choose one, he would be very similar to you.
Thank you for the very thoughtful and heart felt comment!
I discovered your video when it first came out and converted my 2007 Prius with a 4.5 kW system. Two years ago, I upgraded the batteries to an 18 kWh Nissan Leaf setup and added solar panels on the roof. I still use my Prius today, and it works perfectly. Thanks for sharing this with us. It's all your fault!
18 kWh Nissan Leaf what is your range now? Can you share how your set up is done?
@@jerryorange6983 The car was initially set up for highways, not 100% EV. I'll be running tests soon to see how far I can go with a full tank and the 18 kWh batteries. I expect to easily exceed 1,000 km (over 700 miles). Additionally, I'll be adding solar panels all over the car. I'm not a tech expert; I just experiment by adding parts to the car. Often, these tests become permanent due to their effectiveness.
ruclips.net/video/q3z28DAs9KM/видео.html
This is such a clean setup. I have to attempt it someday. What a wonderful upgrade.
I have a 2010 Prius with the factory solar panel. It's a pet peeve of mine that it's almost useless, being used ONLY for running the fan blower when the car is off, and nothing more. I know it provides enough power to charge a cell phone, camera battery, emergency flashlight, or other small gadget connected to the 12v outlet. I've been looking for someone who has rigged it to power the standard 12v outlets (or an additional added one or two), or maybe even rigged it to trickle charge the 12v battery. *Anything* would be better than having it just waste free power. Sitting in the sun all day at work, or sitting in the sun parked at the lake or beach - I could be charging my camera batteries without having to have the engine run (which I do now). I just think there could be a better use of the unique feature we have of a built-in solar panel!
My Prius have on the top of the car something like look like solar panel but i do not for sure can somebody tell me what is .
@@juniorsavoy1010 If it looks like a solar panel, it probably is. Thats what I'm referring to in my comment above.
@@juniorsavoy1010i think it's to charge your 12v battery that you have.;)
I had solar panels installed on my home with the intent i would trade my third generation 3 prius for the next generation plug in prius. That dream has come true. I have the car programmed to be charged by noon when i do most of my daily driving. I love the thought of having my car charged by solar energy.
Tesla is building what is called the gigafactory in Nevada that will produce lithium batteries. The gigafactory will eventually produce more battery kWs per year than the entire world produced last year. The entire factory will run on wind and solar power and recycle the used batteries which incidentally still have life in them. The gigafactory will eventually employ 6,000 people at $25 per hour and up. Google gigafactory and see what you think of the potential environmental benefits. By the way the Tesla car manufacturing plant in California currently has 6,000 employees.
I was at the site and it was beautiful.
+netsurfer912
fantastic!
$25 per hour and no state income tax.
The Lithium batteries are getting better and better. I have found they work best/last longer when you don't let them drain down below about 60% of a full-charge on a regular basis. Recycling has not reached the level of Nickel-Metal Hydride yet though.
That why they invaded Afghanistan... for lithium
Now in 2020 these cars are old and cheap, as are used, yet still viable solar arrays as ppl update their home systems. I own three Prius this model, 1.2 million kms between them, one battery pack replaced. I bought a 1kw solar system for $350 and currently trying to work towards what David has here. I'll likely use cheaper, used batteries to feed into the OEM pack so the ECU see's a full pack and gtlides in EV as much as possible. We don't need to be millionaires, all we need is around us, just the skills, knowledge and will.
Hope that worked out for you Bee!
Hi David,
I am in Australia and in the process of installing a 10KW Plugin Supply system in my 2008 Prius.
.. you live in a beautiful place - with your own pond!
Love your work.
All the best.
Eric
EVPlus
Good luck Eric!
evric2008 How did it go? Im interested in doing this but doubt I'll have the money any time soon :-P
Hi Rennie,
Please see the blog on my website www.evplus.com.au - It's going great . We are getting a long term average of 2.7L/100km (over 87mpg). This includes a lot of hill work at high speed. We normally fill up after doing aroun1700km (over 1000miles) I like the "Kill Gas" switch which makes it into and electric car.
Very cool. You've already put in a lot of work into this car, have you thought about adding solar panels to the roof for additional efficiency? Would be curious to see how that fares with your car.
7suprasonic
I already have a pole mounted solar system that supplies a little more than the electricity used by the car. The cars surface is really too small to produce much electricity...maybe in the future when solar panels become much more efficient.
Thank you for sharing. You live in an amazing place. Great idea for electric drive.
I really like your videos!
tube4waldek
I like living here and thanks!
Where on earth can we get this? Like, I just bought a Gen 2 Prius and have been looking at adding battery storage to take advantage of surplus solar power I have at times. But I've yet to find a kit that works as you're describing.
You measure > 10KW charging because of charging inefficiencies, not because the pack is > 10KW. Charging is not free, you lose power AC -> DC and you lose power to heat.
You're a smart guy, keep up the good work:)
Thanks!
The ultimate set up
Did you replace the engine? The electric one in the Toyota has 30 HP, so it won't reach high speeds, maxing out at 40 km/h. Then the combustion engine kicks in. How did you resolve this issue?
One last comment! Would you consider putting solar panels on the car itself?
There isn’t enough roof space to make much of a difference with the current technology.
Toyota makes a solar roof for the latest prius. If you incorporate the hood you could have a viable system for sure.
Very cool. I haven’t owned a car for the last 20 yrs cause i lived in NYC. But i want my next vehicle to be electric. I wanted to do vanlife, but currently there are no electric vans available. Nissan only released the electric NV200 in Europe. And VW is coming out with an electric ID Buzz van with a 375mile range, quick charge & solar panel on roof that’ll give it an extra 10 mile range...but it isn’t coming until 2023. So i started looking at alternatives. Tesla is out of my price range. The nissan Leaf is an option. But the Prius is more roomy to sleep in. So i am thinking of getting a used Prius and doing something similar to you. Then eventually i can swap out for an electric van when they become a thing.
How are you and your family? How is your Prius doing? Mine is doing fine still charge it daily. I did my Convertions in 2007. Hope everything is fine.
The Prius is doing fine and is plugged in on a regular basis. Thanks! Good to hear from you!
Thats awesome man. I have a 17’ prius and love it. But i keep threatening to buy a gen 2 and do this conversion for a 2nd car.
Awesome lifestyle! Keep it up!
Thanks! 👍
So if you accelerate aggressively it will still turn the gasoline engine on? But just utilize the larger battery more often during routine driving ?
The combination of gasoline engine with the battery and electric motor makes quite a difference in miles per gallon while in mixed mode.
Its my understanding it drives as if the battery is 80% full, then reverts to normal driving once the aftermarket battery is empty?
Hi there. I'm a little confused.
Unless I'm mistaken, I thought you said that the Prius was originally just a regular gas-driven car.
If that is the case, where did the electric motors come from? If it used a regular transmission, there would be no need for electric motors.
Great job on your car, by the way. It's definitely a keeper.
Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Alan L. Janover
+ajanover55 Originally from the factory my Prius had a gas and electric motor with a 4kw battery pack but could not be plugged in to recharge. The factory setup helped to get the good gas milege Prius is known for and the battery pack was recharged while driving. The electric motor was really just assisting the small gas motor.
+David Groth 4kW is not a measurement of energy. What you mean is a kW*h*, which means a flow of 4.000W for an hour.
+David Groth The Prius battery pack is only 1.2 KWH. The PiP had a 4KWH pack though.
amazing, I would buy prius too. First I need house. Do you still have your prius 2.Gen with this modification running ? if so, did you change anytything?
Tomas Titak
Yes I have the Prius with the batteries still working...a little less range at this point. Haven’t made any further modifications...this was a good step for me to get further involved with solar energy and batteries.
@@DavidGrothsculpture I want to do it for my gen 3 Prius, but didn't see anyone that did it🤨
They only do it to gen 2.. now they say is not worth anymore (not cost effective).
No ecu hack.
No out of gas hack.
No PHVE conversions😥
And only 30 mph on EV mode.. (=no ECU hack..)
And worst thing is, the cooling system is horrible!! So I want to replace it also...
And the battery is outdated also.. NIMH 🤨
I need Lion..
So im fucked up pretty much..
The only way I'm going to do it, is if I'm really want to spend my time doing what I like.. (I'm not pro ofc)
God bless you Sir, eco friendly and peaceful commute, how to steps and exact link to order if possible Sir?
Unfortunately Rob Protheroe of Pluginsupply no longer does this battery setup. It worked well for me over quite a few years…however now have a Tesla.
Dear david very bright plan with your car ithink your prius need an solar roof generating 400 watt.
I like it!
really good job.
+Alex Dion
I like it too, thanks!
It was always a hybrid, it is now a PHEV, plug-in hybrid.
How did he connect the other batteries to main regenerative batteries? In parallel?
It all looks nice, but what about a cooling of additional battery? Doesn't it need it at all? It has been a couple of years since this film was here, so can you please say something about batteries vitality? Still working fine?
I recently sold the Prius. The batteries had reduced mileage however still worked and there was no cooling besides air flow. We have now upgraded to a model Y Tesla…great car and batteries are cooled.
@@DavidGrothsculpture Thanks for answer! But you can say that Prius's retrofit paid off definitely, can't you? I'd like to have such batteries in the one I own ;)
The battery addition probably wasn’t a financial success…however I enjoyed having them. Most importantly they got me into Tesla…and by the way in about a year Tesla is supposed to produce a $25k car.
Nice informative video.can u tell me how much this battery and that system cost please.i want to put in my prius
Hi there I am from Pakistan owning a 2014 model Toyota Aqua aka Prius C. Your system is really cool & looks great. Can you share the car's portion, technical detail on how can I do it? The solar thing I can do myself here. Your help will be highly appreciated!
Robb Protheroe installed and designed the software and hardware for my system. It is quite complicated as the programming must work with the Prius software. He no longer is in this business and I have upgraded to a Tesla. Sorry I can't be of any help but good luck!
That s really a genius solution!!🌞😁
+Filippo PDM
Thanks, I like it and it works for me.
Can I ask you how much $$?
+Filippo PDM
When I had the system installed by Robb (the owner of PLUG-IN-SUPPLY) the total cost was $12,500. I could have saved a $1,000 if I had installed it myself with the directions provided on the PLUG-IN-SUPPLY website. I wouldn't say you can save in gas savings the cost of the system, but I do get terrific mileage out of a gallon of gas.
Good stuff mate
I'll stick to my old squarebodies like the white one in the background, lol.
So I have to ask...why jumper cables in the trunk?
Since the Prius is both gas and electric the jumper cables are for “just in case”.
Kickass man!
Certainly agree, thanks!
Nice
It was already a true Hybrid?
Still nice mods.
Yes, true hybrid however you couldn’t plug it in. The battery had to be charged by use of the car.
How many miles do you have on your prius, and does the retrofit replace the existing prius battery or instead of?
I have 75,000 miles on my Prius and the retrofit is in addition to the existing batteries that originally come with the Prius.
In reference to the previous linked comment...I've been making monthly payments and finally just have paid the system off!
@@DavidGrothsculpture I have an 08. How do I do this?
Can you make like a small tutorial how you converted it?
The person who converted it for me is no longer in this business
Genius!!!
Hi, nice project. Are you ok to share some tech details, perhaps you have connection diagrams or so? Thanks.
DAVID CAN I ADD AN EXTRA PRIUS C BATTERY PACK TO MY PRUS C?
JUST THE BATTERY PACK NO EXTRA COMPUTER.
To my knowedge you have to have additional software to integrate and control additional batteries added to your existing system.
Do you still own and drive this conversion? How has the system held up over the years? Any issues with battery durability?
Thanks!
I still drive with the system...probably been at least four years. The range on the batteries has decreased...however I suspect it is due the batteries all needing to be reset because over time they get off from one another. At some point I'll have Robb reset the system.
Thank you for taking the time to answer. Also...love your wood working art. Cheers!
smart man
Sometimes!
He is very intelligent, yes, for the way he set this up....but it looks like it is costing WAY WAY WAY more money to run this car than fuel would cost....and I dont know how smart that is .......unless cost is no object, and its all about low emissions
If you work daytime, car sit parked 8 hours x 1 solar panel 250 watts = 2 kilowatt...nice top off.
8 hours, 5x panels 250 watt = 10 kilowatt
Hi Dave just found your site fun stuff I see you spell your last name the same as I do Bob Groth not to many of us that have the name spelled this way I live in Washington state.
What's the update with the battery back as of almost a year later. The quality of the batteries and conditioning, overall fuel economy change, reliability? I'm considering doing just the 4kw upgrade but I'm trying to dig a bit more and it's hard to find current users. Please help lol.
I currently have an updated version of software from when the system was originally installed almost 2 1/2 years ago. Of course there is only a certain amount of energy stored in the 10k batteries...currently I can get more miles per gallon when in the mixed driving mode. Considering driving conditions vary...I used to get 98-100 driving miles in mixed mode before using the charge up and 70-75 miles per gallon. Currently with the new software I get 70-75 driving miles in mixed mode and 96-100 miles per gallon. When in EV mode I can get about 32 miles...that figure of course wouldn't change until the life of the batteries decrease. So far none of the batteries in my system have failed or needed replacement. Don't forget Robb Protheroe has been in business developing his system for quite a few years while most of the others in the same business have failed..he keeps making improvements and is responsive if an issue comes up. Hope this helps!
It does. Thank you very much. Well idk where they're located but if they're in SoCal it would be really cool to experience the upgrade in person or at least more videos on it other than just the ones they have posted and your own so that more consumers can see there product and how to build they diy battery packs. Do the packs contain everything and then you just take the negative and positive terminals and attach them to the prius hybrid battery?
Robb Protheroe is located in the Marin area and on the PLUG-IN-SUPPLY website there are directions for installing the battery system yourself. I had Robb install the system but could do it myself at this point.
How is this Prius doing to this day?
The Prius got great mileage/gallon up until selling it last year...gas is off the menu now with our Tesla model Y 😃
@@DavidGrothsculpture Ohhhh nice, that's a great update, so the Prius bigger battery pack held up until now? the same pack used in this video?
Yes it held up...but with less mileage by the time I sold it
I've been sharing this video to friends over the last 6 years, one of them just bought a Prius and didn't even know you could modify them like this. It's funny but after all this time, even with the gigafactory completed and multiple years into full battery production Tesla's can still easily price out at $70,000+ and are still heavily impractical compared with the Prius. The famed $35,000 Model 3 never happened and instead we still see prices almost twice what the car originally projected at. Now being 2020 there's no exuse why everyone including the government should be pushing for hybrid upgrades such as this but instead you can't find companies willing to install them meanwhile there's an overinsured Tesla sitting on every street corner.
REAL ECO DRIVE !
Is the car still running?
My Prius have on the top of the car something like look like solar panel but i do not for sure can somebody tell me what is
Sadly, the Oil, Gas, and Energy companies watched this video, and hatched a scheme to ensure even electricity on a par with fossil fuel…no, I know, he’s got a solar panel. The problem is, I’ve realised, the car is the little bit at the end of a rather long road to using electricity to drive with! You can buy an electric car used, not great, but for less than maybe $10k. It doesn’t have to be great, it just has to plug-in. The real money, is for the solar panels, the batteries, etc, to make your electricity in the first place. If you have a home power station, EVs make massive sense, definitely. But if not, a decent Toyota Hybrid is as economical as you can get for the money spent. And, as I have discovered, when you look at getting a load of solar panels on your roof, the first thing they’ll do, is assess your state of rot in your roof trusses etc…this is the trouble, you end up beginning with several grand on a roof, then several grand on a set of solar panels etc, then maybe eventually, you get to the car part.
Big EGO (Electricity, Gas & Oil) as I call them, just rules the world, and they call the shots, and they wind up prices for fun. We are literally held to ransom. It is ridiculous that you have to self-fund all your own solar panels, batteries etc, before you can economically drive an EV or similar PHEV or whatever. The whole point of distribution lines, was so it could be generated centrally. If those days are over, we need infrastructure spending galore. And there that will sit in the post-pandemic world. Take care all.
10 KW hr is the capacity of the battery, not 10 KW. KW is power, the rate of using energy. Energy is KW hr, the total power used over time. That is, energy = power * time, actually energy = the integral of power with respect to time. Also, power = energy/time, again in calculus terms power = the derivative of energy with respect to time.
How can I order the Conversion Kit ?
Go online to Plug-in-supply and order the kit. Robb Protheroe is the owner of the company.
Is it Prius s or pre I ?
The later.
Almost forgot to leave enough room for the driver to fit inside....
Fast and the hippies
"1/2 mile off the ocean" you didnt explain why this matters at ALL???
c.l.o.u.d.s.
Half mile from the ocean is,always more cloudy "night and morning clouds" is standard weather forecast every day. They burn off after couple hours like by 10 a.m. and come back about 5 p.m. further inland rarely has night & morning. It's sunny all the time.
Recently, the California senate nazi's mandated that gas & electric hybrid vehicles must now be subject to smog checks also. Does the upgrade affect the smog emissions in any way? Is the upgrade frowned upon by B.A.R. or are they actually supportive of this upgrade? I don't see how they (or ANYBODY) could have a single negative thing to say.
+Joshua Rialto Since I bought the Prius new in 2007 there hasn't been a requirement for me to have any smog checks. The car emissions should be the same with or without the battery pack add-on. All the battery pack add-on does is give the Prius additional battery storage to draw from without changing the car or car computer settings. Mainly the Prius is a computer run car and that is why the additional battery pack could be added on with some additional software to make the Prius computer think it has more battery storage to keep drawing from. That is all I know concerning your questions...hope this helps.
$6000??? just for the solar panel setup?? For 400 miles a month? thats supposed to be a good deal?
A regular Prius could drive 400 miles on 9 gallons of gas. Thats $22.50 a month at the current price of $2.50 a gallon. Thats $270.00 a year to cover those 400 miles/month of local driving. Thats 18.5 years just to break even on the solar setup. And the car conversion cost even more??? wow. EXPENSIVE!!
first he is a pioneer,so a cost loss is on premises.That set up was made somewhere between 2013/2014.Now,2018 price of solar panels drop down a lot,provably same set up u pay 0.70/1.00 dollar per watt plus a solar inverter I would say no more than 2000/2500 dollars.However u can show respect for who try rather than criticize his willingness to improve this world out of a brilliant idea..Soon this set up will be more affordable for everyone,maybe not for u..
2022, sure that car is already in the trash!!!!!!!!
how the heck 1 dislike really!!!
+EL DIESTRO DIY Lets be honest a lot of people hate the prius, me included, but I love the technology ideas. If they made a crx in 89 that got mid 50s there should be a car on the market that can get 60-70+.
FYI when I say I hate the prius I just mean id never buy one I would buy a civic or if i wasnt concerned about MPG id get a Subaru.
+EL DIESTRO DIY Because what it takes to produce those batteries for those cars is far, far more toxic than a gasoline engine could ever be. Heavy metals in batteries are absolutely horrible for the environment.
+peniswrinkle lol seriously did you forget all the pollution gasoline burn produce versus a battery packs with life span of 5 or more years and can be recycled/re manufactured since those kind of life or lipo cells technology. those are not regular lead acid battery like the ones comes in each car truck motorcycle in the world!!!!
+Altair Ibn-La Ahad you're fucking annoying. maybe one day you'll realize it.
+Altair Ibn-La Ahad Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?
It's an Inverter not converter.
Purely on $ economics it sounds like a bad investment. Obviously from an environmental perspective it's a good thing, but the cost of panels, batteries chargers etc. costs more than the gasoline saved.
etmax1
In my case that is true...however in Julie's case (she is doing the interview) she has had 22 roof installed solar panels for 5 years and they soon will have paid for themselves. After that the electricity they produce will be free.
Thanks for responding, Does Julie use hers for house use or is it also for a car? We have a 4kW system and with feed in tariffs we reach break even in about 7 years but we went for a premium inverter and panels and the installer had a good reputation which I believe accounts for something.
The big problem with cars is the battery cost and that and charge time. Just fore work and bumming around town I could get by with a 120m range but I would need a second car for holidays and sometimes weekends although your modified hybrid would work too. Problem is still ROI isn't there, not considering environmental benefits
Julie's is for her house and business. For me the addition of the 10kw battery system to my Prius has been an interesting learning experience that isn't cost effective (I was aware of this from the beginning)...however without that I probably wouldn't have been saving for a Tesla Model 3. So next I'll be driving all electric in 1 to 2 years. I won't mind the half charge time on a trip of 20-30 minutes at the superchargers. Overnight charging at home on 220 volts is not a problem. I'm hoping to get a battery pack with 300+ miles per charge.
I bet he has switched to a Chevy volt
Thanks for posting! To clarify, you get 70mpg *after* depleting the electric only drive, or is that only if you don't do an all-electric stint? (not sure how the battery pack is integrated into car). First scenario is better of course, but either way, amazing mileage! I have a 2007 (standard, not converted) and get around 40mpg consistently. Do you know if these conversion kits are still available for purchase? I've looked around a bit over the last 5 years but didn't see anything current. If you have a link to one that is, I'd be very grateful to receive info! Thanks!!
To my knowledge these kits are no longer available. The current technology has gone quite far beyond altering a Prius with all electric cars now. Tesla will come out by the end of this year with an electric car for between $20,000 and $25,000. Subtract the federal $7500 and you will have a sub $20,000…close to $15,000
Thanks! I didn't realize that they were coming out with such an affordable option. There are various reasons I'd probably still be interested in a conversion, one being that I heard (will have to re:check the info) that the amount of energy it takes to go into producing a new car has a higher co2 footprint than keeping your old gas-using car. But thanks for the tip (I don't follow electric/car release info much). @@DavidGrothsculpture