Discussion on:

How to turn your car into a hybrid for $3000

Congrats! Great job!

They also made a 2wd car into a 4 x 4. Even at the modest city speeds that adds market appeal in northern states.

A hybrid kit for $3000? Love the idea! And it gives you essentially an all-wheel drive.

It is about time someone came up with a more practical as well as economical approach to converting to hybrid. Great job! It will be interesting to see what other ideas these folks come up with!

Does it cost 3000 to make or will it cost 3000 to purchase? If the manufacturing cost is 3K the sales cost will be about 15k. How is this cheaper than buying a new fuel efficient car? Why is this not covered in the article? Why just write a puff piece?

I'm wondering converting to CNG would be cheaper and have a quicker return on investment.

If a person drives 400 miles a week, a low average for most US commuters this has an ROI of 2 years 8 months.

If their current car gets 22 mpg, a government average estimate for average US vehicle mpg thrown about a lot in these discussions, a 50 percent boost in mpg is now 33 mpg.

The math is simple from there.

400 miles divided by 22 mpg = 18.18 gallons a week. At the $3.90 a gallon I saw this morning that is $70.90 a week or about $283.60 a month. (using a 4 week month for example only)

400 miles divided by 33 mpg = 12.12 gallons a week. At the same $3.90 that is $47.27 a week or $189.08 a month.

That is a savings of $94.52 a month or roughly $1,134.24 a year. That makes the ROI approximately 2 years and 8 months.

The actual ROI is slightly better ($1,228.76 a year) if you factor in the 4 weeks missing because I used a simple 4 week month as standard for the sake of a simple calculation.

That is a much better ROI than the ROI, on the extra cost, you would see from fuel savings buying any OEM hybrid compared to buying a comparably sized conventional car.

If your car is on the high end of their testing results and gets a nearly 100 improvement in mpg you would be looking at an even faster ROI.

Good idea that it is, who supplied the bux to develop this system? Likely a goobermint grant (aka taxpayer dollars). But who will reap the profits if it sees production? If monies were obtained through a private grant to the school, then the grantor might profit. Taxpayers never see their "investment" returned to them. The school posssibly owns a part, or all of the idea and might see a return, but the taxpayer never does.

The "Wired" article from which this article was taken answers some of my questions. The question of what it would sell for, that $3,000 figure, is only the cost of the parts of this prototype. Tildejac's estimate that it would probably sell for around 15K seems more accurate because you also have to take into account the cost of installation if you don't do it yourself...and we don't know if this would be that type of job for the average car owner.

justajo ...
You're obviously not a Veteran? ... I put my life on the line for all Americans ...
Americans paid for my college education through the GI Bill ... We're even ...
I pay taxes to the American government ... I sleep contently knowing some grunt like myself is puting their life on the line for me ... I payed S.S each payday ... S.S. is now paying me a monthly retirement ... Thank you for paying your taxes sir ...
Hey dad ... Incase you haven't noticed yet ... Nothing is perfect ...

The idea that this is an instant 4wd car is a bit off point. But why does it have to have two motors? You could drive just one wheel. This would cut some of the added lbs and be easier to package and install. In most everyday use it wouldn't be noticeable.

It seems like this concept could be added to the axles of a camper that is towed by a pickup truck. The assistance provided could greatly improve the performance and millage of the tow vehicle.

A segmented vehicle with powered real wheels would be a nightmare to drive.

Achieving the Norms ...
Low cost environmental friendly vechicles will someday replace those that are not ...
Solar, wind, tidal, nucular, and central earth energies will be a popular options in many areas ...
Water consumption from distilling sea water will aid our populations ...
Medicine will no doubt add many enjoyable years to most humans ...
Moving forward isn't anything new, and will probably always bring with it new challenges ... Sooooo ... Sit back and enjoy the ride, cause this ship sailed many years ago, and it ain't within reaching the docks anytime soon ...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/30/2012 - 08:46.

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People have suggested other uses for the kit. I do much of my driving around town and it uses up a lot of fuel. I would probably benefit from buying a used smaller vehicle with front wheel drive, taking out the engine and transmission because of their weight, and installing the drive package to the rear wheels, maybe double the battery size. Just drive it as a pure EV. It could be a cheap do-it-yourself EV. There are lots of small conversions out there already that have been done by owners of things like VW Rabbits, etc. Most just pull the engine and bolt on a conversion kit to the transmission/clutch assembly or automatic transmission. The battery pack is the killer. Most conversions have been using lead acid float batteries and they are awfully heavy for the energy density. I have a Bionic powered bike and enjoy the extra kick the electric drive gives me when I ask for it on hills. My wife used to look after a quadriplegic gentleman who had a large electric wheel chair and he went miles with it every day. An EV would be even better for us west coasters used to rain almost every day. Looking forward to ongoing improvements, lowering costs, and less fumes.

Bionic powered bike and enjoy the extra kick the electric drive gives me when I ask for it on hills. My wife used to look after a quadriplegic gentleman who had a large electric wheel chair and he went miles with it every day. An EV would be even better for us west coasters used to rain almost every day. Looking forward to ongoing improvements, lowering costs, and less fumes.

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