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Thanks for the input everybody!
Right now, we are leaning towards a 2004 Prius with a Hymotion battery system in it.
It's a Prius, which everyone I've ever talked to LOVES their Prius, and they get great fuel economy. However, in general, they tend to be more expensive, but it's older, so the price isn't so bad, but it's also relatively low miles and the interior and exterior look perfect.
With the Hymotion plug-in kit, you sorta-kinda get an electric-ish car. You do at least get the option of getting some of your energy through renewable electricity from the wall.
We live about 2 miles outside a city of 15,000 people. So, a trip to the grocery store, park, library, etc, etc can be MOSTLY electric. Although the car is NOT a Volt or a Leaf, and the car will still use some gas, have to go through the warm-up sequence, etc.
We also live about 10 miles away from my parent's house and my sister's house. That's 20 miles round trip. The Hymotion pack is 5KW, so at 250 watt-hours per mile, that comes to 25 miles range, less losses and not driving your pack to empty, 20 miles sounds about perfect for driving more on electric than not. And we can top off the charge at the destination. (Sideroad routes are fairly good to both locations as well.)
We also looked at a brand-new Kia Soul. Overall, it was pretty nice. It uses the same engine and tranny as the Rio, but with more head-room, leg-room, and pretty usable cargo space. 100,000 mile warranty. I would definately consider one as far as plain gas cars go.
But back to the Hymotion Prius. It would pass the law of "it's not too weird" for my wife, but still allows me to mess around with mods and geek it up.
I know a couple other people with aftermarket battery packs in hybrids, who should be able to help me with the system in the future. For now, the Hymotion kit is still under warranty, and the warranty will transfer to a new owner.
Anyone on here have a Prius with a Hymotion kit? Anything you love/hate/want to warn me about?
The Hymotion installer is only about an hour drive from us, so if we ever did have to get warranty work on it, it wouldn't be a big deal.
Air-conditioning, cargo space, good fuel economy, partial-electric power. Sounds like a great all-around family car!
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