Hybrid builds, had anybody done one?

chillin
10+ year member

CarAudio.com Elite
I'm thinking about buying a hybrid. Maybe arav4 or santa fe, but according to Crutchfield, shouldn't add a system that's bigger than 350 watts. My current system is about 1500 watts and I wanted to go a little bigger in the next vehicle. Has anybody done a large build in a hybrid, 2500-3000 watts range? Or even keeping the 1200-1500 I have now?
 
You’d probably want to run a deep cycle and a lithium bank that charges in the garage on a nice charger. Even a 300 watt stereo will kill how many miles your EV can go if you’re running on the vehicle power. I made a portable stereo with a sub in it for my daughters little EV, but it just runs on 5 of the little 18650 lithium ion batteries and she takes it inside to charge it. 50 watts to a sub and 25 watts to the 2 speakers. If she had a garage, I’d get her a little 500 watt setup that runs on a little stand alone battery bank that she could just charge up at home.
 
So you have to charge your EV to drive it, and you put up with that hassle because it saves you money, and doesn't need gas. So you put in a larger stereo, but that needs to be charged separately because that will kill your engine's battery.

So instead of mpg costing you about 60% of gas, it costs you closer to 75-80%, and the bigger stereo you go, the more juice you use. With gas, you add a larger alt, and the ongoing cost is nothing extra.

My stereo, is the one reason, I would never own a hybrid/EV (for a daily driver). If I go deaf, I will figure out what it takes to put a wrecked tesla drivetrain in my pickup. Until I don't care for music anymore, the butterflies can choke on smog, and kiss my ass.
 
I haven't bought it yet and the lack of stereo may be a deciding factor. I do lots of long drives for work, so the hybrid would save me a lot of money on fuel. I'm at 25000 miles so far this year, but in Canada where fuel prices are much higher.
 
I haven't bought it yet and the lack of stereo may be a deciding factor. I do lots of long drives for work, so the hybrid would save me a lot of money on fuel. I'm at 25000 miles so far this year, but in Canada where fuel prices are much higher.
You could do a little 300-500 watt sub running on a good AGM battery that recharges. Run a head unit to that same battery and put 2 good speakers up front running on head unit power. Or, get a 3,4 or 5 channel amp that connects with Bluetooth and just run your phone directly to an amplifier and skip the head unit.
 
I believe I read that the starting battery gets a really slow charge from the electrical system, which is why a large wattage stereo can't be installed. But now I can't find where I read that.
 
So you have to charge your EV to drive it, and you put up with that hassle because it saves you money, and doesn't need gas. So you put in a larger stereo, but that needs to be charged separately because that will kill your engine's battery.

So instead of mpg costing you about 60% of gas, it costs you closer to 75-80%, and the bigger stereo you go, the more juice you use. With gas, you add a larger alt, and the ongoing cost is nothing extra.
free ****.jpg

It's like free energy when you think about it.
 
I haven't bought it yet and the lack of stereo may be a deciding factor. I do lots of long drives for work, so the hybrid would save me a lot of money on fuel. I'm at 25000 miles so far this year, but in Canada where fuel prices are much higher.
Wow. I thought I drove alot every year. LOL. Man.. Sometimes you just need to do bare min. to make ends meet. I used to buy a ragged out vehicle to drive to one place of work that got like 40 mpg(old Honda Civic Hatch) I think it had like a 1.3l in it. It ran good but one ugly ride. It was just a gas saver and something that if one would try to vandalize it, I wasnt too worried about it, while others would drive beamers and Lexus and look for every little door ding or scratch on the daily and bitcch about dirt on them even or bird shiiitt even. I had a small system in it, old JVC HU, some $50 Cadence coax, and an old 10" sub on an old MTX 4ch. Served its purpose when fuel was almost $5 a gallon. A/C and heat worked just fine. Tires were cheap,and car was easy to work on. Ran great!passenger door had a nice sized dent in it, but hell, got me around just fine.
 
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Wow. I thought I drove alot every year. LOL. Man.. Sometimes you just need to do bare min. to make ends meet. I used to buy a ragged out vehicle to drive to one place of work that got like 40 mpg(old Honda Civic Hatch) I think it had like a 1.3l in it. It ran good but one ugly ride. It was just a gas saver and something that if one would try to vandalize it, I wasnt too worried about it, while others would drive beamers and Lexus and loom for every little door ding or scratch on the daily. I had a small system in it, old JVC HU, some $50 Cadence coax, and an old 10" sub on an old MTX 4ch. Served its purpose when fuel was almost $5 a gallon. A/C and heat worked just fine. Tires were cheap,and car was easy to work on. Ran great!passenger door had a nice sized dent in it, but hell, got me around just fine.
I'm still a hooptie guy...I don't even think about what my car looks like 😂 my better half on the other hand gets a nice ride 😳
 
I'm still a hooptie guy...I don't even think about what my car looks like 😂 my better half on the other hand gets a nice ride 😳
Ya man.. Im the same. If it gets me to where I need to go, Im all good. I used to have the big house and nice rides all the time, but for what??Just to think I accomplished something in life?? Materials ya know.?? My better halves(Plural) always got the good rides,and to think I could borrow it to go to the store in it without have to play merry-go-round to get mine out was not acceptable?? LOL. beyond reasoning to say the least. LOL
 
My stereo, is the one reason, I would never own a hybrid/EV (for a daily driver). If I go deaf, I will figure out what it takes to put a wrecked tesla drivetrain in my pickup. Until I don't care for music anymore, the butterflies can choke on smog, and kiss my ass.
Your stereo is the only reason? I'll never buy electric because they are boring! No car guy wants their vehicle called the p word: practical.
I'm still a hooptie guy...I don't even think about what my car looks like 😂 my better half on the other hand gets a nice ride 😳
Is that a sex joke? Joking aside, my lady has a 2022 in the garage and my 1993 is in the driveway.
Happy wife, happy life!
Happy wives put on weight. Insecure wife, happy life!
 
Your stereo is the only reason? I'll never buy electric because they are boring! No car guy wants their vehicle called the p word: practical.
That and I only drive manual transmissions.

You can't argue they have torque. If it wasn't for the stereo, I would really enjoy getting a wrecked a tesla, and an older S10. Put those batteries along the back of the bed, really improve the weight distribution. Probably even put a inch body lift on it, to keep the full size bed. Even a 90s OBS full size Chevy longbed. Could put a small wattage system with no subs in that to have music. I wouldn't buy a new one, but an older pickup swap I could get behind.
 
That and I only drive manual transmissions.

You can't argue they have torque. If it wasn't for the stereo, I would really enjoy getting a wrecked a tesla, and an older S10. Put those batteries along the back of the bed, really improve the weight distribution. Probably even put a inch body lift on it, to keep the full size bed. Even a 90s OBS full size Chevy longbed. Could put a small wattage system with no subs in that to have music. I wouldn't buy a new one, but an older pickup swap I could get behind.
Putting an electric
That and I only drive manual transmissions.

You can't argue they have torque. If it wasn't for the stereo, I would really enjoy getting a wrecked a tesla, and an older S10. Put those batteries along the back of the bed, really improve the weight distribution. Probably even put a inch body lift on it, to keep the full size bed. Even a 90s OBS full size Chevy longbed. Could put a small wattage system with no subs in that to have music. I wouldn't buy a new one, but an older pickup swap I could get behind.
How do you only drive manuals?
 
I'm not a new car person. Don't buy new phones, rarely buy clothes, and they are not always new. I had $50K for a pickup about 10 years ago. Couldn't find anything I really wanted. I looked for 6 months and spent $6K on a 10 year old pickup that had: one owner, low mileage, a manual, unmolested, and some nice options, and I doubt I'll ever get rid of it.
My garage is filled with most of the non-body and frame parts to build something nice, just need to figure out what. I'm not too far from some of the junk yards, and I go on base to get my haircuts, (because a nice short military cut is the only thing that works if you want to drive with the widows down all the time). They are close to the self-serve auto yards, and I stop in, and shop at the man mall in the GM section looking for some nice hand-me-downs.
 
I'm not a new car person. Don't buy new phones, rarely buy clothes, and they are not always new. I had $50K for a pickup about 10 years ago. Couldn't find anything I really wanted. I looked for 6 months and spent $6K on a 10 year old pickup that had: one owner, low mileage, a manual, unmolested, and some nice options, and I doubt I'll ever get rid of it.
My garage is filled with most of the non-body and frame parts to build something nice, just need to figure out what. I'm not too far from some of the junk yards, and I go on base to get my haircuts, (because a nice short military cut is the only thing that works if you want to drive with the widows down all the time). They are close to the self-serve auto yards, and I stop in, and shop at the man mall in the GM section looking for some nice hand-me-downs.
I hate to admit it, but I agree with you. I like my old vehicles. I plan to start tearing into my 1993 Taurus SHO engine this weekend (manual trans). If you ever venture into the Ford section, I have a bunch of parts I am looking for and can't find locally.

Longer hair feels great in the wind. Give it a shot!

I prefer tastefully-molested over unmolested. For example: I installed a saginaw power steering pump and an oem Ford aluminum rear differential cover for a later model on my 1993 F250. If I found the same pickup with those parts already installed, it would have saved me time and money.
 
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chillin

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