OEMtek:
Convert your Toyota Prius into a plug-in Prius
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Double
your mileage for $15,000?
If you live in California, home to some half a million Toyota
Prius hybrids, then you can soon convert your Prius
into a a plug-in Prius using the OEMtek BREEZ PHEV
Conversion Module.
The BREEZ, or Battery Range Extender EZ, is a plug-in
conversion module that uses a lithium-phosphate cell
battery pack to "piggyback" onto the standard
NiMH battery that comes on a conventional Prius. Fitting
over the tire in the trunk of the Prius, without limiting
trunk space, the BREEZ can "average 90 miles per
gallon at freeway speeds of 60 miles per hour for an
average distance of 47 miles on a single charge,"
notes Green
Car Congress. "For urban driving the vehicle will
average more than 150 mpg at speeds under 35 mph for 30
miles on a single charge."
To prevent any nasty thermodynamic events, OEMtek offers a
proprietary Battery Management System (BAS) that monitors
the charge and the current of the battery cells, as well
as temperature.
Pricing estimates range from $12,500 to $15,000 for this
plug-in hybrid conversion module.
OEMtek hopes to get started in California this March and
could expand its business outside of California if demand
necessitates. By the end of 2008, OEMtek also hopes to add
a BREEZ module for the Ford
Escape hybrid as well.
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