Hybrid Vehicle Conversion Services?

OverkillTASF asks: "My '94 I6 Jeep Grand Cherokee has once again eaten through a transmission... at 105k miles. For one reason or another, this has led me to the following question: Are there any companies/individuals out there who do hybrid vehicle conversions? I'd like to retrofit my Barbie Jeep with the necessary equipment to eek out 5 more MPG, be a little more environmentally friendly, but still allow me to get where I need to go out here in the sticks? Do such after-market conversion services exist?"

Comments

40 mile commute? Go Electric!

[RingDev]

Let's say you work over your truck to get 28mpg. You drive 40miles round trip every day to work. You driver to work 250 times a year. And for the moment, we'll put gas at $3.00.

That means every year you spend $1072 on gas. $1429 per year when gas hit's $4

Compared to a full electric. A (relatively) cheap conversion to a 9" DC motor and lead acid battery pack can easily pull a 40 mile range. And at about $8-12k it's about the same cost as a few year old decent used car. A DC system like this should run at about .4kWh per mile (AC can get as low as .18kWh)

If we use the same standards (250 40mile round trips @ .4kWh/mile) and put electric at $0.10 (my last bill was $0.85/kWh). That means you're spending $400 a year on fuel. Now, with the 'el-cheapo' 6c deep cycle lead acid battery packs, you're only going to get 3-5 years out of them. So if we figure in blowing $1200 every 3 years, you're looking at $800/year in fuel. Even if electric jumps to $0.13 (a 33% jump like the gas jump $3 to $4) You're still only looking at $920/year

28mpg Gas @ $3/gal = $1072
.4kWh Electric @ $0.10/kWh = $800
28mpg Gas @ $4/gal = $1429
.4kWh Electric @ $0.13/kWh = $920


-Rick

Re:40 mile commute? Go Electric!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, investing $12k and loosing the ability to take longer trips for $272 in yearly savings isn't worth it. Put your money in an ordinary interest bearing savings account, use that interest to pay for gas, and you come out ahead.

Re:40 mile commute? Go Electric!

[RingDev]

12k @ 3% is only $360/year. and that's not likely to grow.

Gas is going to hit 4 dollars, and at that rate you will be saving over $500 a year.

My situation is slightly different though. I drive a 2 seat compact sports car for my commute (20mpg). My wife is looking to swap out her aging compact suv with a Golf TDI (45mpg Diesel). I'm looking to convert my 2 seater to electric. Drops my yearly fuel cost from $1700+ to $800. And we would still have a high efficiency vehicle that doesn't depend on crude oil.

Which brings up the next point. At some point in time, there will not be enough gas to go arround. US consumption is still growing, although not as rapidly as it had been. But China and India are exploading into their industrial revolutions and their oil consumption is skyrocketing. Going Electric saves you from the future where gas prices will surge, lines will form, and shortages will exist. Going diesel you can atleast run bio-diesel from veggie oil or soy beans.

-Rick

Re:40 mile commute? Go Electric!

[nmos]

Unfortunately much of our electricity comes from natural gas which is likely to become more expensive for basically the same reasons as gasoline so expect electricity prices to go up as well.

Re:40 mile commute? Go Electric!

[RingDev]

Actually most of the electricity in the US comes from Coal. North America also has the worlds larges coal deposites in the world. So while my heating bill is likely going to be over $300/month this winter, I don't expect my electricity to raise more then a peny or so per kWh.

-Rick

Re:Nice thought

[Halfbaked Plan]

If the vehicle is already paid for, it only costs him $4000 (your figure) to do the conversion. That's the only cost and he presumably gets a new engine and drive train for that money. Which would be a good deal.