[PStechPaul]

I found a 2002 Prius locally on Craig's List for $1000. Would this be a good candidate for an EV conversion or would it be better to just service the batteries and keep it original? Or maybe replace the batteries with LiFePO4 cells?
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/3319371082.html

 

[Ziggythewiz]

Sounds great! I wanted to get one of those a while ago, but the seller was pretty shady and others are still around $5k.

I'd keep it stock, there's no sense throwing out what makes a Prius great. I remember someone saying they swapped out the batteries themselves for $800, but don't recall if that was on a Prius or another hybrid. There certainly isn't $3k of batteries in one of those.

 

[Batterypoweredtoad]

I would buy it if it were local. Pick up a used battery pack. Then you can pretty easily separate the prius pack down into the individual battery modules and replace the bad ones for one good complete battery.

 

[evmetro]

What makes the Prius not great is that it is a hybrid. If you could make it only electric or only gasoline, it would be a great car. I have looked closely at these and worked on these as a professional mechanic, but i see no way to remove either of the redundant drive systems. It would make a nice doner for an ev conversion...

 

[sparkswb6nov]

the first geen prius well only go about 30 mph 40 tops so you could have a go EV as a NEV and use the gas to go faster use the gas ICU engine..
you could just use a larger Bat. pack..

 

[evnz]

did you get it in the end and what are you going to do with it if you did?

 

[PStechPaul]

No, I didn't buy it. He realized the price was way low and I think he sold it to someone else for maybe $3000 or so. I am now considering a larger vehicle like a truck or SUV that has some towing capacity so I can use it occasionally for local pickup and delivery of bulky items. Otherwise, I'm looking more at small utility vehicles, tractors, and maybe bikes, trikes, or quads.

 

[Fortion]

btw you missed out on an absolute steal.....