Prius C: thinking of developing a "70 mpg aerodynamics kit"...

[F8L]

I think with the right design it is totally possible. There are more than a few people who are totally new to Prius and they are posting 60mpg tanks or at least long trips. That is impressive for a brand new car with new tires and a new driver!

[todayican]

Picked it up yesterday, Like it so far! Ran it 300 miles with air at 72, got 45.1 (beginning mileage was only 11!

[todayican]

So I guess the best way to put it is what is the best way to spend $1000 in fiberglass, and tech to be able to offer a 70mpg kit for 2k or under?

Changing mirrors to video?
Back wheel skirts?
Kamm back?
Boat tail?
Relocating the nav antenna?
Grill block?
Adding a supplemental charger for primary onboard battery?
Adding more batteries (more then 1k I know)
Reprogramming to lean on EV mode more? At more reasonable speeds? (Mine kicks of at 19mph)

Anyone want to take a stab at helping me design the kit for a part of the profits? a sweet deal on kit 1? :-)

[Daox]

Kamm or boat tail is going to give you the largest gain for one mod.

Add a charger for the high voltage pack isn't going to net you much at all considering your EV range is under a mile.

A plugin kit can work wonders, but yeah the cost is easily more than $1k.

I don't think I'd mess with the EV cutout speed. It most likely has to do with safety of the MGs with what speed they can spin up to.

[Sven7]

Boat tail and 60mph governor perhaps. Wheel skirts and the rest will help but not nearly as much as the boat tail. I imagine Toyota has taken care of much of the "low hanging fruit" like the belly pan and body shape.

Maybe switch to LED DRL's and tail lights if they aren't already.

[todayican]

Ive been away from the "sport" for a while, have there been any good developments in video rigs to replace the 2 mirrors in a "pretty" and "public accepting" way?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by todayican

So I guess the best way to put it is what is the best way to spend $1000 in fiberglass, and tech to be able to offer a 70mpg kit for 2k or under?

Changing mirrors to video?
Back wheel skirts?
Kamm back?
Boat tail?
Relocating the nav antenna?
Grill block?
Adding a supplemental charger for primary onboard battery?
Adding more batteries (more then 1k I know)
Reprogramming to lean on EV mode more? At more reasonable speeds? (Mine kicks of at 19mph)

Anyone want to take a stab at helping me design the kit for a part of the profits? a sweet deal on kit 1? :-)

If you have a university nearby which has a business college,I would recommend you get with the dean of the department to see if grad students would do a business model for you.
For under a thousand dollars you could end up with a complete business plan with all real capitalization costs and potential market information.
Without this data you don't have an ice cube's chance in hell for success.
80% of new small enterprises fail.Many lose everything they have.And it's impossible to attract venture capital unless you can prove your business on paper.
To market a $1,000 kit will cost you many tens of thousands of dollars.And its easy to just keep adding zeros.

[mcrews]

You need to realize that market for people( b type) who will 'visually' or "astheticlly' modify their car is much smaller thatn the market for people(a type) who want better mpg.
Also the diy market(subset of b type) is broken down into:
1. those (like most here) who will say "I can make my own'(b1)
2. those who will buy it and put it on themselves(b2)
3. those who would buy and have it put on by a shop(b3).

Next: Cant call it "70mpg kit" because the first person who drives it hard and gets 60mpg is going to sue.
In fact you need to look at the CAI aftermarket as a case study.
The manufacturers show dynos and make claims of increased performance.
But when you go to car web sites, the buyers admit to not REALLY seeing any inprovement.
THe difference though is cai is cheap, throw away money. And the product doesnot effect the outward apperance. And 'looks racy' under the hood.
Next: If the european and asian aftermarket hasnt done this, you have to really ask 'why?'
They have expensive gas. And (at least in JDM) they are willing to have oiutragous looking cars.
Next: You about to face what car manufacturers face when they design cars. The lowest common dinominator. The stupid driver.
you really think that a 'grill block' isnt like passing out a free pass to sue?

Just some food for thought.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by todayican

So I guess the best way to put it is what is the best way to spend $1000 in fiberglass, and tech to be able to offer a 70mpg kit for 2k or under?

Changing mirrors to video?
Back wheel skirts?
Kamm back?
Boat tail?
Relocating the nav antenna?
Grill block?
Adding a supplemental charger for primary onboard battery?
Adding more batteries (more then 1k I know)
Reprogramming to lean on EV mode more? At more reasonable speeds? (Mine kicks of at 19mph)

Anyone want to take a stab at helping me design the kit for a part of the profits? a sweet deal on kit 1? :-)

I went back and looked at Continuum Dynamics semi-trailer boat-tail doings.
The Small Business Administration along with Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration allowed an initial grant of $50,000 dollars for proof of concept,which would be followed with a secondary grant for around $350,000 for commercialization of the product.
I think you need to inflate your $1,000 cost estimate for bringing a kit to market at $2,000.

[cfg83]

mcrews -

Originally Posted by mcrews

You need to realize that market for people( b type) who will 'visually' or "astheticlly' modify their car is much smaller than the market for people(a type) who want better mpg.
Also the diy market(subset of b type) is broken down into:
1. those (like most here) who will say "I can make my own'(b1)
2. those who will buy it and put it on themselves(b2)
3. those who would buy and have it put on by a shop(b3).

...

Hmmm. At first when I read your statement something didn't sound right. From my POV the aesthetics market is far bigger than the MPG market, at least for the non-business driving population.

After re-reading it I see your distinction. I guess I wouldn't compare "want" to "modify". I would argue that the population that is willing to modify their car for MPG is much lower than the population that is willing to modify their car for aesthetic purposes.

CarloSW2