Today we’re taking a step away from the regular www.aminorjourney.com posts and looking at a personal project of mine - Velma, the Plug in Prius.
This weekend the weather has been nice enough to finally take the additional Prius battery packs which have been sitting in Velma’s luggage area and taking up valuable space.


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I’m off to the UK launch of the Zero electirc Motorcycle.

I’ll be doing an exclusive interview and a bit of a peek around the latest zero-emissions motorbike to hit the UK streets too. It happens on Monday, so expect something very soon afterwards on www.aminorjourney.com! I’m also hoping to cover it for EVcast.

Talking of which, EVcast 233 is a ( Read more... )

Last week at the 2009 SAE World Congress the final plans were bashed out for a new way to charge plug in vehicles. Sadly it’s not an inductive one like the oh-so-simple charge paddles which were used on cars like the EV1 and RAV4EV to name but a few. No, this new standard is a good old-fashioned mechanical plug. You plug your car in and up to 30 ( Read more... )

Earlier this week, various reports surfaced detailing Toyota’s plans to release the 2010 Prius as PHEV, but only to fleet customers. The range? A shade over 12 miles (20 km).

While it’s good to see Toyota going towards a Plug in Prius, it’s a little frustrating to see a small PHEV range when compared to the commercial and DIY conversion options ( Read more... )

Earlier on this week I ran an article detailing ten top DIY conversion links. I decided that perhaps it’d be nice to detail ten top PHEV sites for anyone interested in plugging their hybrid in. Unlike the EV conversion scene many plug in hybrid conversions are commercially done, partly due to the expense of battery packs and the demographic of the ( Read more... )

Today’s post has been rattling around in my head for the past week or so after a couple of comments to previous posts I’d made really got me thinking along with some really intense discussions with various EVers this week. Big thanks to Joe Lado, my good friend Pyoor Kate and Andrew Bissell for getting me thinking. What about? Well, about the ( Read more... )

At a rather subdued Knockhill race-track in Scotland, UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and UK Transport Minister Geoff Hoon announced a plan to support Plug In vehicles, not only buying them but “Building them”.

Mr Hoon and Lord Mandelson also had the privaledge to take one of BMW’s Mini E around the Scottish track, publising the Government’s ( Read more... )

The plug in prius is a strange beast. Promised by Toyota many times and not yet on the market, many owners (like me) have taken the time and energy to convert their own 2004-2009 Prius to a plug-in hybrid. There are even companies who, if you have enough money, will convert your Prius to a plug in without you worrying about doing it yourself.

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As my regular readers will know, I’m currently visiting family on the East Coast of the USA. While I’ve been here I’ve been noticing the differences between the UK and USA cultures from things as diverse as eating out and shopping to travel and environmental issues.

Now, before I go any further I feel duty-bound to put a mini-disclaimer here. I ( Read more... )

So you want an EV but you’re put off by the stupidly expensive price tag. You’re caught in a lease or finance plan with your current car and don’t have the money to get out. But you really want that new plug in. Or perhaps you’re one of the tens of thousands who have signed up for the Volt, the iMiev or maybe even one of those Smart EDs. Point is, ( Read more... )