Quote:
Originally Posted by mikehallbackhoe
has anybody figured out how much this will cost ? how much battery capacity do you need, and how far can you drive at night? what brand deep cycle battery will you use? how long will they last?
what kind of charger?
|
I use an Odyssey PC1200 deep-cycle battery and the 6amp Odyssey charger (total cost was near $280). The set up might last 5 years or more, with care. The cost of the switch and wire was negligible. I figure it will take about a year and a half "to pay for itself".
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikehallbackhoe
these are a lot of questions, but till they are answered, you really don't know how long it will take to pay for this mod.
|
That's fair. I think of it maybe a little differently than a lot of people on this site (but not all, I'm sure). I don't modify my car and hypermile it primarily for direct and immediate cash savings, though I have managed to come out ahead so far. I get satisfaction from boosting this 1998 car of mine to 60+ mpg and I get a sense of autonomy from not being beholden to the automakers' pricing of new high-MPG vehicles. You are comparing the cost of the mod to direct savings from the FE improvement, but I'm partly thinking about my savings as coming from the avoidance of car payments.
By my figuring, I'm slightly ahead in cost/benefits of ecomodding (mostly through hypermiling the car) and thousands ahead in avoided car payments this year.