I can't point folks exactly where their site is, but there are a group of people working on a Prius+ concept which would make it plug-in (gridable) on top of internally charged. I kind of like the thought, but the friend that Flare mentioned was probably doing something a lot less technical in nature, and a lot more dangerous to the health of the vehicle.

From what I remember reading the Prius+ group was putting in a lot of time to research proper batter and charger combinations with the objective of having a car which can be run exclusively on electricity for short, local, city speed trips and would also serve as a standard hybrid on longer trips. All I can remember from reading was that a different, higher capacity battery, (also less susceptible to memory effect) would probably be required to make it a reality.

Anyone else familiar with this project?

 

Yes, I know about the Prius+ project but can't say I was a big fan. Good idea, but not practical. The Prius is much to heavy to be a usable electric vehicle, and the "plug-in" concept will quickly kill hybrids in the public's eye. There just isn't much sense to it.

 

You see, I read the Prius+ project data quite some time ago; at least 4 months have passed, since I have looked into it. Now, I wouldn't put my car under the knife for any kind of research like that, but I suppose there are some that have the money and inclination to do it.

Anyway, I agree totally with the car being heavy and such, but correct me if I'm wrong. The Prius+ idea is to have a self contained hybrid with a higher density battery pack, or greater power storage capacity and some additional control systems or algorithms which would then allow the car to act as a pure electric, to a point. So, let's say you are retired and you spend most weeks going to the grocery store, church, club events, etc, and they are all relatively close to your house, and you wouldn't be out on the highways, then the car would operate in an EV mode. But you hit the highway or a higher speed, or the battery is drawn down beyond a certain SOC as determined by the new logic, then the car would revert to conventional hybrid. But the idea is that you would never need to plug in the car, but you could plug in the car and "top it off" and then benefit from having an all electric driving mode that was really feasible, without loosing what we already get from the Prius.

If I'm totally off the mark, please tell me. I don't want to perpetrate incorrect information.

But, I do agree with your general feeling Jason. Anyway, as a former marketing student, the idea behind all production hybrids is to prove the technical concept and induce people to buy the product, thus further proving that this is the future... now!