Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete4
Well, first of all our cars use only something like 30 % of full capacity, the batteries are never discharged bellow 50-60% .... If the battery packs were less expensive, lets say $1000, instead of 3-4k, I could see myself buying new pack every two years since I would probably save more than that on gas.
|
That is odd. My typical trip involves a highway section sandwiched between suburban roads. My mileage is greatest when I can go on EV mode only for as long as possible on the suburban roads, but that means the battery is drained to a rather low level. I am seeing a consistent draw down to 20-25% at the end of every trip.
My commute is 50 mile roundtrip. I do not believe adding additional battery pack is an economically viable option for the current hybrids. A car would have to be designed from top-down to do a 50 mile roundtrip on EV only. The closest I know is the volt.
On the other hand, I would like for Toyota to provide a "retrofit" plugin to the current hybrids that will keep the charge on the existing pack to the optimal level and keep all engine part warm enough so that I can go on EV immediately at the start of the day as oppose to 5 mins later.
Regarding your comment on replacing battery, I just dont see your reasoning. Why woudl you replace it and for how much gain in mpg? Also,doesn't Toyota cover it for 8 yr?