Starting underneath the erear passenger seat, you’ll find the battery pack. These things are heavy, so storing them low is a good idea. Hyundai also store their batteries in a similar location, but Volvo put theirs in the transmission tunnel and Tesla’s is kept in the floorboard.
You still get an auxilliary battery that powers the car’s accesories and presumably kicks the starter motor on for the main engine.
The power control unit converts AC/DC power and appropriately adjusts the electrical voltage.
This new Prius features a more compact power control unit, making it possible to mount it directly above the transaxle.
What’s a hybrid without its internal combustion engine? (Don’t answer that). The Prius comes with what looks and drives like a regular old engine, but in fact, uses the Atkinson cycle. This lowers power, but increases thermal efficiency. That slight loss of power is MORE than made up for by the electric motor.
