- Coming soon, EDrive, plug-in Hybrid converters. For around $10k they’ll replace the existing NiMH battery pack of your Prius with Lithium, along with tweaks to the battery control system. The conversion process was engineered by a company called EnergyCS (here’s some of their projects). Hmm, wonder what they are doing with the old batteries?
- How’s that for timing, I was just thinking about Hybrid School buses on the walk home from work the other day. I can hear a school bus coming from quite a ways away, they are ferocious beasts. The giant engine, exhaust pipe thick as a grapefruit, powering the huge, swaying mass of metal and rubber that is the epitome of stop-and-go driving. Regenerative braking and electric assist take-off would probably save tons of wear and tear, along with helping reduce fuel consumption.
- Prius Hacks to get rid of beeps, enter stealth mode and more.
“Hmm, wonder what they are doing with the old batteries?”
this reminds me… with a couple hundred thousand hybrids now on the road in the US and Canada, surely someone is watching for battery packs (and other EV components) from collision damaged or otherwise “written off” cars.
seems like it would be an ideal source of parts for conversion-minded folks. and maybe an as yet untapped revenue source for used EV parts suppliers.