Quote:
Originally Posted by mohammad
@Nathan thanks for the prompt response.
Alot of modern hybrids including the prius come with 1-2kwh of battery capacity and a 10 year warranty. Similar to a block heater ive been curious why people dont figure out how to charge the battery up before every trip to increase fuel economy especially on short trips. It could maybe even be wired up to the block heater so its just a single cord to plug in.
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Toyota tries to keep their NiMh batteries at ~60% charge because the batteries last when maintained there. The battery was really only meant to keep running the car's accessories when coasting or stopped at a light. If you manually charged that battery pack to 100% they would degrade much more rapidly - especially if you didn't have a good battery management system to keep temperatures in an ideal range.
If you were willing to accept consuming a $2,000 battery pack with some regularity, you'd be looking at a maximum capacity ~1.2kWh going from 100% to 0% charge which might get you 3-4 miles on flat ground. If you used a more reasonable 80% to 20% you'd get about 2-2.5 miles of range.
The plug-in prius came with an 4.4 kWh lithium ion battery pack and was rated for 11 miles (2.5 miles per kWh). The prius prime came with an 8.8 kWh lithium ion battery pack and was rated at 25 miles (2.8 miles per kWh).
Interesting, if Nathan Jones wanted to drop 40 lb he could replace his Toyota NiMh battery pack with an Project Lithium battery pack:
https://projectlithium.com/