Announcing a new "Project" for Toronto Hybrid Group! Well, "new" may not be the operative word. We first started looking into and following the development of the plug-in for the Prius back in May '06 when Hymotion's Akos' sister, Karola, brought her 100 MPG Plug-In Prius to our Coffee Shop Mtg and Jack and I drove around in the pleasure of silent electric driving. Since then, the Hymotion boys came to our new "digs" in Aurora to demo their latest design as the new unit went into production as an A123 product with a $10,000 (US) price tag. Since then, we have had Power Supply Inc (affordable but PbA) and EnerMotion (Solar PHEV but NiMH and still over $7K) talk to us about their PHEV designs.

Then, I became what I am going to refer to as the first (until someone tells me otherwise) non-Fleet, Canadian Prius Plug-In installation just last month. And, now it's time for the rest of this group to join me in installing my most recent discovery, the latest plug-in product, the Enginer PHEV Kit. What makes it particularly interesting is that it houses up-to-date safe technology (Li-Ion Phosphate) in an affordable package (less than $5K) for a 4 kWh Kit that leaves the spare tire in the car. And, local installation is available.

What: Group Purchase of Enginer PHEV Plug-In Unit

This is a NON-Event to gather names of those potentially interested in participating in a group purchase of an Enginer PHEV Plug-In Unit for any Hybrid.

Their main website is at Enginer.us and details of the unit are here.

At this time, we want to know who could be potentially interested in this group purchase if our continued research shows all systems to be a "GO" and based on the following assumptions:

• 2 or 4 kWh System fits below the rear trunk floor of the Prius and above the spare tire;
  
• System will be available for all Hybrids -- please specify if other than '04 to '09 Prius;
  
• Could provide you with 20 to 40 miles of electrically assisted driving with approximately double your current fuel efficiency over that range before switching back to "normal" hybrid driving;
  
• Recharge with 110V plug in 3 to 5 hours;
  
• Price below is Cdn $, installed in Toronto GTA;
  
• Research is indicating a relatively well designed unit that should last for a minimum of two or three years depending on usage and depth of discharge (DoD);
  
• 2-year warranty from Enginer, Michigan;
  
• Price: 2 kWh Unit -- $2,200;
  
• Price: 4 kWh Unit -- $3,300.
  

Please read the available information on the Internet, such as

• PriusChat - Discussion; or
  
• PriusChat - Specs, etc
  
• CleanMPG
  
• Enginer
  
• eMileage
  
• My own findings from my recent Hymotion L5 Unit
  

Then, please RSVP your current decision of "Yes", "No" or "Maybe" so that we can assess the potential interest and establish some more accurate group pricing. At this time, no deposit and no commitment is required. This "NON-Event" is at: http://www.meetup.com....

I have put in a great deal of time and effort into this PHEV project ... and, between Mony, Jack and myself, we'll probably put in a whole lot more time and effort over the next few months. All that I ask everyone of you to do is RSVP to this non-event and let us know if you are, or could be, interested in a Plug-In or not.

Thank you for caring about the environment ...

~ Erik
KlnAir4U

"My Engine is OFF ... When will yours be?"