A CNet story discusses converting the Prius to be a true plug-in Electric Vehicle (Es) that runs exclusively from battery power:
The Petaluma, Calif., company is selling $5,000 conversions that enable a Prius to drive a maximum 20 miles on full, lead-acid batteries, or $11,000 with lithium-iron phosphate batteries. Professional installation takes a day or two and costs about another $1,000.
It’s come to light that the Chinese faked/taped/used computer generated (CG) fireworks (2) during the opening ceremony during the Summer 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. Video is here and here.
We did it today. We needed a new car so we bought a 2008 Toyota Prius. Cliché, you say? I hear you, but 48 MPG speaks for itself. Maybe more people should look into getting one. Unfortunately, just as we bought it the price of gas started dropping.
There is a 6-12 month waiting list for cars, depending on who you talk to. We got ours by getting on several waiting lists months ago and we jumped on the first one that came along in Seaside Pearl. I’ve heard that some dealers are taking the 1 or 2 Prius’s that they get allocated each month down to auctions in places like Florida where they’re selling for US$6-8k over MSRP at auction.
So far so good, it’s super-silent when running off the battery and I can keep the gas engine from kicking on by keeping it under 20MPH. I’m still trying to figure out if there’s a hack to keep the gas engine off longer.
The first fill up only required a little over nine gallons of petrol (US$33.33) in the 12 gallon tank and I was able to get about 400 miles on the first take. We’ll see how the MPG numbers end up over the next few months.
Stay tuned for lots of Prius hacks on this page 
