The Kit That Turns Any Car Into A Hybrid

news.yahoo.com...

Prof. Perry's design takes a lot of the confusion out of hybrid technology, making it more realistic and accessible to car owners. The kit attaches to the rear wheels of just about any car or truck, and is powered by a lithium ion battery in the trunk. Sure, not everyone could install it themselves, but Perry insists that if you can change your brakes, you can install the kit.
When it comes to market he hopes to retail the kit for around $3,000, with battery costs as the main factor in determining the price.

This sounds like a pretty good solution to some of our gas problems. The best thing here is you get the hybrid without the hybrid price. On a prototype they saw an increase in gas mileage of 50-100%. The kit out of the gate looks to be pricey at $3000 but this cost can easily be returned within 2-3 years. Curious to see if this even hits the market and I'm sure the price will get jacked so high that it probably won't worth it for most consumers.

We'll just take the example he used in the video in the link below.

Honda Civic
MPG - estimated at 20mpg
Estimated Fuel Tank Capacity - 12 gallons
Estimated Average mileage driven in a year - 12,000 miles

Normal MPG
20 x 12 = 240 miles per tank full
12,000 / 240 = 50 refills
12gallons x $4 = $48
$48 per refill x 50 refills = $2400 annually in gas

50% increase in MPG
30 x 12 = 360 miles per tank
12/000 / 360 = 33 refills
$48 per refill x 33 refills = $1584
Cost savings = $816
5 year total = $4080 - $3000 = $1080 savings

100% increase in MPG
40 x 12 = 480 miles per tank
12,000 / 480 = 25 refills
$48 per refill x 25 refills = $1200
Cost savings = $1200
5 year total = $6000 - $3000 = $3000 savings

Instead of the ABC News video that's just an interview, here's Prof. Perry's actual video describing the kit and how it works:





Very excellent idea, by the way. The price is a little steep for the average consumer who wishes to save some fuel costs.

S&F

That's pretty cool!
A much better way of approaching a hybrid than every car company out there.

Pitty that it is focused only to town cars
I do most of my driving on highways... Damn.

I want to put this on my Fiat X19. That trunk will have a use!

Originally posted by HawkeyeNation
news.yahoo.com...

Prof. Perry's design takes a lot of the confusion out of hybrid technology, making it more realistic and accessible to car owners. The kit attaches to the rear wheels of just about any car or truck, and is powered by a lithium ion battery in the trunk. Sure, not everyone could install it themselves, but Perry insists that if you can change your brakes, you can install the kit.
When it comes to market he hopes to retail the kit for around $3,000, with battery costs as the main factor in determining the price.

This sounds like a pretty good solution to some of our gas problems. The best thing here is you get the hybrid without the hybrid price. On a prototype they saw an increase in gas mileage of 50-100%. The kit out of the gate looks to be pricey at $3000 but this cost can easily be returned within 2-3 years. Curious to see if this even hits the market and I'm sure the price will get jacked so high that it probably won't worth it for most consumers.

We'll just take the example he used in the video in the link below.

Honda Civic
MPG - estimated at 20mpg
Estimated Fuel Tank Capacity - 12 gallons
Estimated Average mileage driven in a year - 12,000 miles

Normal MPG
20 x 12 = 240 miles per tank full
12,000 / 240 = 50 refills
12gallons x $4 = $48
$48 per refill x 50 refills = $2400 annually in gas

50% increase in MPG
30 x 12 = 360 miles per tank
12/000 / 360 = 33 refills
$48 per refill x 33 refills = $1584
Cost savings = $816
5 year total = $4080 - $3000 = $1080 savings

100% increase in MPG
40 x 12 = 480 miles per tank
12,000 / 480 = 25 refills
$48 per refill x 25 refills = $1200
Cost savings = $1200
5 year total = $6000 - $3000 = $3000 savings

edit on 6-9-2012 by HawkeyeNation because: moved link to top

My Honda Civic Coupe (2007) gets 40 MPG (hwy miles) straight from the factory.
Average Estimated MPG is 36 MPG on Honda Civic.
You might want to re-figure your posting !

Regardless of what you do, it is still a 150 year old piston engine inside.
Why would anyone need a new and improved bicentennial blast from the past?

NWO want us dependant on petrol. Period!

I have a 2011 Jetta TDI.

600 miles per tank easy combined city and hwy driving.

These cars are very underrated on their mpg estimates. They only rate this 42mpg on the highway and I'm not sure how they did the test but I get 42 mpg at 80 mph with the air on. True 53 mpg car at 65 mph on the highway. Where I live it is flat.. very flat...

I fill up once every 3 weeks or so. A kit like this could buy my car another week or two between fill ups.

I like the idea of getting fuel once a month.

reply to post by Labrynth2012


I would assume the figures are using a MUCH older civic, like late 80's very early 90's, and that car today after 20 years of wear and tear, for that baseline.
But it hardly matters, you could just replace Honda Civic with Ford F-150. What matters is the benefits to everyone.

Here's my only gripe with this system: It has to be plugged in. I think one more component to the system would perfect it, and make it a FAR more revolutionary product for everyone. That one extra component is a small generator in the engine compartment being turned by the serpentine belt, or attached seperately to any of those turning wheels, charging the battery pack continuously, even when the engine is just at idle.

The system would never have to be plugged in with a small generator, so your electricity bill doesn't increase, and I don't think a small generator like that would at all increase the cost of the system itself at $3000. The only increase in cost would be to have the accesory installed in your engine compartment and the wire ran, which any sound system shop could do easily. And it could also be done yourself pretty easily.

That's my 2 cents, but other than that one issue, this is IMO one of the most revolutionary consumer products in quite a long time. If it actually goes to market and maybe even drop slightly in price so people could easily make that investment........I would put it right up there with the semi-conductor.

EDIT- Now that I think about it for a second after posting, I don't think you'd even need a generator. Just a single 12v to 110 converter running directly from the alternator would probably keep the system continuously charged. You'd probably just need a cheap charge controller as well.