Currently, most plug-in conversions are being done by non-profit organizations and universities, but that is about to change soon.
EDrive is a Southern California company that is offering plug-in conversions in Southern California. Unfortunately, those plug-in conversions are only available to fleets. Additionally, the company hopes to expand to other locations by the end of this year. (Hymotion is also offering a plug-in kit; as is A123Systems).
Now these conversions will not be cheap and they will be limited to the 2004 Toyota Prius, although the Ford Escape hybrid should also be added soon.
Currently, costs are reported to between at least $10,000 and $12,000 per vehicle - and dependant upon the size of the fleet. With such a conversion you could expect to achieve 100 - 150 mpg for the first 50 miles of your commute. Additionally, your fueling costs will be significantly reduced.
While the costs are high, for Los Angeles area drivers, for example, making cross-county commutes, etc on a daily basis, this technology could still pay for itself.
Other companies are also working on plug-in conversion kits. If you would like to tell us about a plug-in conversion kit, e-mail us at soultek@soultek.com.
There are also some resources out there for do-it-yourselfers. For example, the SEVA offers help for Prius conversions.
More important, some have figured that if Toyota did this internally, they could probably make plug-in Prius hybrids for just $3000.00 more than the current Prius.
Let's make Toyota act!!!
--> Hymotion offering plug-in kit for the Prius; Escape hybrid kit coming soon
--> More juice for plug-in hybrid vehicles
-- > Want to help make plug-in hybrid vehicles a reality? Join our campaign!!
