Hi Ash,

Thanks for the suggestion. I believe this is the article you are referring to:
Silicon Chip Online - How to get more than 100 MPG from a Toyota Prius

From what is described in the article leader on this page, the modification consisted of adding a large Lithium-Ion battery pack and using E-blocks and Flowcode as a control system. The result was a 100 mpg Prius.

Another Lithium-Ion battery pack conversion, by HyMotion, converts the Prius to a 100 to 150 mpg plug-in Hybrid. 150 MPG Toyota Prius with aftermarket lithium-polymer battery pack Recharging from home AC takes 6 hours, and allows you to drive 40 miles before the LI battery is depleted, at which time the stock Prius system takes over.

Now both of these aftermarket systems would be nice to have, but are very costly. The price of the HyMotion system, for example, is about $10,000 installed. My preference, as mentioned in my first post, is to find a way to keep the stock NiMh battery charged without using the gas engine to do that. I basically want to utilize a "free energy" device, either solid state or electromechanical, to keep my battery charged as I drive. It would have to be a device capable of maintaining a single battery which is always under load, so no battery swapping or on-off interruption pulsing cycles could be utilized in charging the 201.6 volt NiMh battery pack.

Any other ideas?

Added footnote: I did send an e-mail inquiry to Julian Edgar, and received a quick response from him advising me to look at the modification articles at AutoSpeed.com. I found a regenerative braking modification there that will yield better gas mileage during times when light braking activity occurs. See Browser Warning for the modification. I will incorporate that idea, however nearly all our driving is done under highway conditions requiring very little braking. I will continue my quest, and welcome all suggestions.

Best regards,

Rickoff