I've been fascintated by the thought of having/converting my car to PHEV; however all the cars converted seem to be priui (sp?), I was reading this evening that the max speed of a PHEV prius is 34mph!!??!

So it got me thinking; the prius has easily enough of a powerful motor to power the car 50-65mph; so why the limitation? I think it has to be the transmission system that can't handle the higher rpm's.

But that means that the HCH is probably more suitable than the prius; as the electric motor is directly connected to the transmission.

I did some calcs using this software:

http://www.machinehead-software.co.u...alculator.html

Putting in the cd; frontal area etc; and the HCH should easily be able to cruise at 55mph on electric power (ignoring battery limitations for one moment).

Can anyone think of why this is not feasible?

it is not feasible because the hch is a mild hybrid with a 20 hp electric motor that can not power the car on its own

The maximum speed for an unmodified Prius on electric alone is 34 miles per hour or so. PHEV modified Prius can go much faster. Go to Priuschat, and there are several threads on PHEV-modified Prius.
20 HP could actually power the HCH in low-speed situations, but the battery pack would not last long if you put that kind of load on it. However, I still think you would need more than the 20 HP to make a usable PHEV out of an HCH.

According to my calcs it takes about 14hp to do 55mph assuming no hills in a HCH II; should be doable.

Yes, but it take s FAR more than 14hp (or even our max available 20hp) to climb from a dead stop TO 55mph. Or else you'll have 0-55 times by # of minutes, not seconds

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

Please add another power to spin your engine.
The motor on the Honda IMA system is always connected to the engine crank shaft.

BTW, Toyoya plug-in Prius prototype can run up to 100km/h(62mph) by motor alone without engine spinning.

Ken@Japan

But I never said the electric motor would be used for acceleration; I only mentioned cruising?

^That is what they are doing with MIMA. (manual IMA). It allows them to accelerate w/ the regular engine, then cruise only on electric (they have an added motor and battery pack, however). Then, MIMA can be charged with solar, or plug in.