I am on the list to get the kit. I havent seen anyone on the data base logging the kind of milage one would see if they had a kit. I wounder if there will be a PHEV column for those with the kit??Hymotion said 3-6 mos and everything was going good....JOE

 

Cool. Obviously you won't recoupe the cost soon at these current gas prices, but who knows what they will be next year. And getting more of these things out the door should help them lower prices over time.

I don't think jason accounted for plugins in this version of his database.

 

What kit are you speaking of? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Here's the link: http://www.hymotion.com/

At ~ $10K a pop, it's going to take more than the Alaska pipeline failure to make these economical. Plus, they void your warranty.

 

People never seem to crititize an extra $12,000 spent on a car with a fancy name plate.And I know those dont save any gas! The novelty of having a PHEV is far more intresting to me than having a BMW name plate on A $12,000 more expensive car.

 

The concern I have is that it will not change how you drive the car. If you want to drive 45 mph, you have to use gas. If you want to drive on highway, you have to use gas.

 

Yup. Hymotion is doing great by opening the doors to this technology. While it may not save you money Joe540CI is right. Lots of people buy more expensive cars that may not be as good as a cheaper one. They do it for many reasons, looks, interesting technology are some of them. It isn't unreasonable to get a hymotion kit if you realize it isn't a money saver. It is cool and it helps promote the technology.

 

Good point. You'd see silly FE, but only at low speeds. 80% of my driving is highway. This wouldn't help me much there.

 

I think that is perfectly reasonable. It still is essentially a gasoline car. Trying to stuff both the capacity to run as a fully-functional gasoline vehicle, and a fully-functional (read: able to cruise 70mph uphill without spinning over the engine) elecrtic vehicle in the same package is just going to be too much weight and complexity to reasonably fit in a single car after the fact. Using some extra batteries -- enough to cover a significant portion of your average drive, but not as much as a pure EV, is a good supplement. I also suspect that using the extra battery capacity alongside the gasoline engine may be more efficient anyway however in the long run than running the elecrtic full out then switching to normal gasoline/hybrid operation after the plug-in pack is spent.

Using that extra power however, the engine could be made to run at its absolute most efficient RPM and load, with the motor picking up the slack, even at highway speeds. The cheaper, cleaner wall-power could be dispensed in such a way as to offset a large amount of the most inefficient gasoline consumption. Another reason I believe that woudl be better is becaue runing in all electric, with only spurts of gasoline use for peak power, would mean that the engine is not getting thoroughly warmed up -- poor for emissions, mileage, and wear and tear. A final advantage would be possible if the extra batteries could accept regenerative charging (not sure if they can), which would then allow much more robust mountain climbing ability -- the pack coudl be spent on the climb, then recharged on the way back down much moreso than the smaller, stock NiMH pack.

 

The highlander often goes electric at speeds of 60+MPH so the hymotion batt would help.Does it have the ability to charge the xtra bat-pak , I dont know. I am making a list of questions to ask the hymotion tech person.IE. Do they warranty the electronics if there is a problem,does the aftermarket batt charge on long trips,ect.It seems every post i read brings up valid questions.............Thanks JOE