Just got a used Hymotion Prius!

[bennelson]

Yesterday was a long day, but worth it.

Fellow Ecomodder member Doax (Tim) headed over to my house first thing in the morning so we could be on the road to go out-of-state to see a 2004 Prius with a Hymotion plug-in kit on it.

After a 5-hour drive (should have been four, but apparently I can't read a map....) we got to see an immaculate red Prius, that just happens to be able to get over 100mpg.

My wife's old Pontiac Sunfire is getting up there, and it was time for a new car. I called everyone I knew to start looking for something versatile, fuel efficient, and IDEALLY could run on some sort of alternative fuel (including electricity)

We were lucky enough to come across this one. Besides the car in perfect condition, and the Hymotion kit, the sale also included a brand new set of Blizzak snow tires, and seller threw in a scangauge as well.

When we finally got back to my place. Here's what I found that my wife drew on our kitchen chalkboard.



Here's the actual car.







Pretty excited about it. I would never be able to afford a Hymotion kit if not getting it used like this. (There's still some warranty left on Hymotion kit too!)

I still know next to nothing about driving a Prius. I'll have to dig through the owners manual and the Hymotion manual and figure the best way to use it.

For anyone wondering, I checked the charger with my Kill-a-Watt, and it draws 1000 watts.

See more photos at my Mobile Me Gallery:MobileMe Gallery

[MetroMPG]

Congrats, Ben! Looking forward to reading about your experiences with the car.

Oh, and your future mods

[NeilBlanchard]

Great buy! It appears to be missing the trim rings on the wheels -- smooth covers are called for! ;-)

What capacity is the Hymotion battery pack?

[Cd]

The car looks great low like that. I assume it's due to the weight of the battery pack ?

As far as the trim rings ....if and when i get a prius myself, the first 'mod' i will make on the car will be to remove them.

The car looks so much better without them . They do however provide an anchor point if you want to install flush moon style wheels.

[Ryland]

Good Job!
Mind if I ask how much it cost? I hear that there is a Prius coming up for sale soon that has a Engener plug in kit installed by ReGo with a 15 mile plug in range and I'm tempted, but I suspect it's going to be out of my price range... that and I really like my Civic VX and Commuti-car, but a 4 door hatch back that I could drive to work and back year round on electric only would be awesome!

[bennelson]

I have the trim rings for the car.

The car has different springs on it than the original stock springs. (I also have the original springs in a box)

Doax rode in the car, he can tell you more about the suspension than I, because he's had a Prius far longer than I.

The Hymotion kit is 5KWh of lithium batteries.

The car with the Hymotion Kit and extra set of tires was $3000 over blue-book of a similar stock Prius. That's less than some other used Prius and a Enginer kit! (And free snow tires to boot!)

I guess that a grill block, block-heater, and EV switch are all in my future.

[Daox]

Yeah, the car is in really nice shape. Interior and exterior are pristine. It also seems like the Hymotion kit is REALLY nice. It does a lot better than the Enginer kit I have.

The car has Eibach springs on it. They really solidify the ride, though it is a little bit more harsh. I think it probably lowers it a little over an inch. IMO its nice, I like a tighter spring setup.

[bennelson]

Just added a new vehicle to my Ecomodder Garage.

"The Wife's Car" should now being showing up under my name on the left!

[MetroMPG]

Thoughts:

1) There's no EV switch in the car yet?? Seems to me that would be the first thing an owner would do if adding PHEV capacity. Can you say anything about the previous owner? (Why he/she/it did the conversion?)

2) What's the voltage of the Hymotion kit? A 5 kWh lithium pack and charger would be a sweet little swap-in for the ForkenSwift! And it would shave probably ~350 lbs off the car's current 2070 lbs lead-acid weight, making it a ~1700 lb EV, with slightly better performance and range. Any thoughts on playing along these lines with the Electro-Metro?

[MetroMPG]

I thought it looked a bit lower than a stock Prius - not just in the rear.