I’m not 100% sure if it’s available on the new Prius or not, but some of the new Toyotas include a USB port that’s connected to the stereo, and will play songs off an iPod or USB stick, in addition to being able to be used to charge devices.

Posted at 3:28 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Andrew

Yeah. Someone needs to wire this into an audio-in jack. :)

Posted at 3:39 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by SheeEttin

What if there were just a lighter plug with a usb jack that was flat? I know there are ones that stick out (I have one), but I’d like one that’s totally flat.

Posted at 3:59 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Nick

08 Ford Focus’s have USB ports for the radio’s already. Not sure about Toyotas.

Posted at 4:02 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Nate

Toyota’s are hit and miss for aux-in ports.

Posted at 4:19 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by BigD145

Not to be a spoilsport or anything… but this isnt exactly the most functional hack ever…

Posted at 4:41 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Abbott

well, if it doesn’t void the warranty, what good is it?

Posted at 5:18 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by paul

Yea, Paul. More warranties need to be overcome. Warranties are simply there to scare you into not learning things by taking stuff apart. Maybe not the most useful thing ever, but the USB charger is very neat and carefully done. It looks good, as if it was supposed to be there. (Maybe too good?) On the other hand I do hook my Mp3 player into the tape deck in my car. Could be very useful to some.

Posted at 6:11 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Mic

i’m guessing the thing is basically a 5V voltage regulator, there was no information on the circuit that was providing the 5V regulated power to the USB port. how does it handle the car starting? Is there any information around on how to make the regulated power side of this hack?

Posted at 6:19 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Cynyr

@paul
EXACTLY!!!!

Posted at 6:38 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by monkeyslayer56

How can you guys say it is a neat hack etc, have you even looked at the image. Looks really crappy to me.

Posted at 6:47 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by babble

@paul

+1!!

Posted at 7:12 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by zero

if i knew it would made hackaday i woulda posted this years ago when i did the same thing to my car. it looks cleaner too not butchered like his. hell i even added a car charger for my phone that runs to the center console compartment and a charger for my psp as i use it for music
@Cynyr
he used a A Dynex 12-volt to USB adapter that normally just plugs into a cigarette lighter.

Posted at 7:57 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by mick

USB charging port in a car? sooo last year, I’m going to put one on my electric bike :D

Posted at 8:10 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Haku

My ‘94 LeBaron has a usb port to charge my Sandisk Sansa Express mp3 player.

Posted at 8:36 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by MarkyB86

I would never buy a damn prius, they are so ugly. If some of the hybrids were a little less gay looking, they might appeal more to the younger crowd. Also, if its only power, im not impressed. Needs to have data lines to play music over the stereo somehow. I can think of one accessory made by VR3 that is cheap and could achieve this.

Posted at 11:31 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Josh

Yea looks a bit rough, but when one takes time to read all the details, the less than perfect fit was to allow the light from the dynex unit’s status led to be seen. The dynex unit auto powers off after 8 hours so a dead battery may never be an issue. The lack of a fuse may never be an issue either, but would be more of a concern for me than a dead battery.

Posted at 11:47 pm on Oct 7th, 2009 by Doug

lol. Uh duh guys wire up the remote wire to the fuse box to something that turns off when u turn ur car off, such as yo radio.

Posted at 1:22 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Mark

This is not nicely done. I also fail to see the point as the person already had a lighter socket to usb adapter. If the person had made a circuit it would be closer to a hack. also, the usb bezel looks like it was hollowed out by a gerbil.

Posted at 4:06 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Pete

looks like he chopped that hole for the usb port with a dull steak knife.

Posted at 4:12 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by bobob

Better hack, install a second or third 12V power port elsewhere like inside the glove box, and lower under a seat, now you have way more versatility and don’t have your dash look hacked up. Go to any of the custom audio websites and you see “hacks” that kick the crap out of this one every single day.

Just saying it’s far easier to do a more useful install.

P.S. this is not a hack in any way. if I drill a wire hole and install a usb port in my entertainment center can I get a hack a day story about it?

Posted at 5:48 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by fartface

the joke is the on the guy that bought a prius

it is the most backwards ass economical decision

Posted at 5:50 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by anon

the hack *is* that he bought the ugly car

Posted at 6:14 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by blubb

I just want to say a few things in reference to the Prius bashing.
1. Owning a Prius isn’t always an “economical” decision, it isn’t about saving gas money its about saving the planet and making a change for the betterment of the world and our children.
2. Have you ever heard “Form follows function”. You purchase a vehicle for what you use it for. I daily commute for nearly 80 miles a day, the prius does of course save gas but it’s a comfortable and smooth ride. Not to mention it has LOTS of space inside. I will never understand people buying a 4×4 huge trucks that spend the whole life on the highway polluting and getting 6 mpg. Or people buying cars designed to drive 100+ mph when it is illegal to exceed, in most areas, more than 65 or on some back roads 70. Not to mention the legality of driving that fast, the endangerment of human life is appalling an extreme inefficiency of internal combustion engines at those speeds wastes gas and produces more pollution.
3. In reference to this hack, do you people understand anything about electronics? You cant’ just hook a USB cable up to a audio jack and play mp3s. The ignorance of that statement scares me, it’s similar to the cries that the orbiter that NASA is crashing into the moon could alter our tides or push the moon our of orbit. I worry about the future of our species when these ill-informed views become the rising majority of the public.

Posted at 7:18 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Mike

This should not void the warranty.

Warranty law is complex, but generally the burden is on the dealer to prove that modifications to cars (like aftermarket chip upgrades) and work done by independent shops caused a failure before they can refuse to fix it under the warranty. Keep in mind that this will not keep many dealers from trying. :)

Google “Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act” for more info.

Posted at 7:37 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Deez

We should launch a bunch of astronauts in a Prius at the moon. That will push it to Mars and they can just step off onto Mars.

Posted at 7:38 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Matt

Well the moon is moving away at around 3.8 cm a year, they could just hang out and listen to MP3s until it got there…

Posted at 7:42 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Mike

I’ve thought of doing this as well, as car chargers are so ridiculously bulky. But do all the work and only put in one port?

Posted at 7:51 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Chris

Wow Mike we can smell your smug from here.

Prius dies not “save the planet” it in fact pollutes more than most small cheap cars like the fit or european smart car. (american smart = crap because of the stupid americanization they did to it.) Europe smart get’s 60mpg, american smart is so screwed up it get’s 40mpg.

Honestly, to “save the planet” lobby to remove all the stupid american car regulations that cause cars to be inefficient. DIESEL is far cleaner and enviro friendly than anything else, yet you uneducated tree huggers shun it. calling it “dirty”

Prius = stupid people. real high mpg cars = smart people. Want a real hybrid? buy a 1999 Honda Insight. it get’s real fuel economy (easily attain 65mpg in them) unlike the joke that the prius gets.

Want to debunk me? then come on down to the MIT automotive labs and prove that you know more about it than all of us here in the lab. the Prius = bad to own for efficient. Anyone that researched it knows this. It’s a yuppie status symbol. nothing more.

Posted at 8:33 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by fartface

I do actually own, or rather my fiance owns, an insight. However your statement is debunking which part of my comment exactly? When I said 6mpg 4×4s were an idiotic idea, or that speeding endangers human life and causes more pollution and waste?

Now, anon pissing contests online and their utter uselessness aside I will make one final comment. The “theme” behind my post was merely that choosing a Prius for it’s environmental benefits shouldn’t be shunned by the public. There are LOTS of options in both everyday life and in vehicles that are good for the planet. Yes there are hyper efficient diesel engines, however “heavy dirty emissions” are still emissions but they are certainly better than the majority of the choices available to the US public. I am currently looking into the aptera myself, I think an all electric car is the way to go especially when I can charge it at home from solar power reserves. However, we are missing my original point. This wasn’t a “I am better than you, you suck because you don’t have a Prius” comment. I just can’t stand people who are ignorant and defense of positive change, however it may take form.

Posted at 8:43 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Mike

Now he just needs to program a pic micro with CAN and connect it to the prius computer network. Then he can just plug in a laptop and read out all the data like fuel efficiency , power usage, etc.

Posted at 9:40 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by cgmark

Manufacturing a new car uses more energy that it will ever use in its lifetime…

Posted at 10:13 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Roryt

Hmmm… I drive a 2009 Subaru WRX265, now THAT’S economical! :)

Posted at 11:27 am on Oct 8th, 2009 by Pan

@fartface

Yes. Jackass

Posted at 12:43 pm on Oct 8th, 2009 by incognito53

Just a note: the Prius looks weird because market research shows that customers buying these cars (hybrids) want to stand out from the crowd. They want to be noticed for buying the car, because just economy isn’t worth it. It’s a status symbol, as much as a Hummer is.

I worked at a car company, and this is the sort of stuff they think about when designing a car.

Posted at 9:34 pm on Oct 8th, 2009 by Sam

Last time I was in the states (me = UK) I almost fell off my chair laughing at one of you car adverts “boasting” about its fuel economy.

I drive a little Skoda Fabia (VW Polo Engine 1.4 Diesel) and I get 55mpg without trying to drive it economically. Its not even built as an eco car, yet it pissed on anything you had over there.

I really don’t get it, do they just take stuff off the car until it gets cheap enough over there?

Anyway Prius are hunks of shit, so a proper hack would be to beat out a new body with a hammer, replace the engine, and rip off the badges and fill them over smooth. I would also stick an arduino on the dashboard with a blinking LED to “trick” thieves into thinking it was alarmed :)

Posted at 12:53 am on Oct 9th, 2009 by tehgringe

All these people talking about, in the UK we have this, or about option that the average consumer doesn’t have. The Prius, and other hybrids have their issues however among the choices for the responsible eco-conscious consumer in America the Prius is one of the better if not the best choice (though obviously quite a subjective statement).

The American consumer, though mostly ignorant of the scientific reality and data concerning conservation in a gross sense, doesn’t have all the options that other countries have.

Posted at 11:06 am on Oct 9th, 2009 by Anon

@tehgringe:

Don’t forget that you, like we here in Canada, are calculating your MPG based on the imperial gallon, which is about 4.546 litres.

In the states they use US gallons which are about 3.785 litres. So their MPG figures are always going to be lower by 1-(3.785/4.546) or about 16.7%.

Does that put them a little closer to the ballpark?

Posted at 5:30 pm on Oct 12th, 2009 by gyro_john

The 2010 Prius IV and V models have USB ports where you can plug MP3 players (as well as iPods), in addition to blue tooth music streaming. No need to hack one.

Posted at 6:12 pm on Oct 14th, 2009 by John

For those who have one of those models and option (nav package i think), just open the center console, and look towards the back of the storage…it’s right next to the AUX (for iPod) port.

I have a Prius IV with solar sun roof and just found the ports today. The car is so high tech it’s like going treasure hunting finding out all the gadgets it has.

Posted at 6:16 pm on Oct 14th, 2009 by John