2nd Gen Prius PHEV Conversion (Enginer plug-in lithium ion battery kit)

[Daox]

The Enginer kit does work with first generation Prius'.

Converting a Prius to an EV isn't any better/easier than converting a normal car. You have to pull the entire drivetrain out and chances are you can't reuse the batteries. I'd suggest starting with a different car for an EV conversion.

[MetroMPG]

I've seen plans (but not progress) for a Prius conversion that keeps the existing drivetrain's electric components, minus just the gasoline engine.

If I understand it correctly, in place of the ICE, a plate is installed to "lock" the engine input portion of the planetary gearset. This makes for a relatively slow-accelerating and speed-limited conversion - more of a medium speed electric car.

The original NiMH pack is also retained, and supplemented by a pair (or trio?) of Enginer/Hymotion packs and chargers.

See: “KISS”: e-Prius Design Concept | eprius
Erik's 2005 Toyota Prius

I can't speak to the feasibility of the design. Just putting it out there.

[electricman]

Maybe a DC Motor could be used to Replace the ICE Motor? AKA - Gas Engine Conversion style! Then - you have DC Motor Plus AC Motor!

[electricman]

Our Local Prius PHEV Retailer and Installer - eMileage will be at EV Fest 2011 on Sunday, October 23rd, 2011, along with Jack Chen - His supplier of Enginer.us fame! Come and check it out: EV Fest Electric Vehicle Show - Electric Car Show and Toronto's Premier Electric Vehicle Fall Festival

[ausias]

Here in spain PHEV kit is selling with an upgraded batteries of 5000 cycles (not 2000 as Enginer standard), 5kWh and other thing to improve profitability.

Enginer PHEV 5 PLus

I posted some other tuning tips on prius here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-mi-19144.html

[epa5epa]

Originally Posted by ausias

Here in spain PHEV kit is selling with an upgraded batteries of 5000 cycles (not 2000 as Enginer standard), 5kWh and other thing to improve profitability.

Enginer PHEV 5 PLus

I posted some other tuning tips on prius here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-mi-19144.html

We shoud know it's specifications. The cycle life >= 5000 times of thunder-sky (Winston) LiFeYPO4 batteries is by 0.5C 70% DOD test. cycle >=3000 times by 0.5C 80% DOD.
Thanks

[Daox]

I thought I'd give an update on this thread. I've been using the PHEV kit consistently since about April. I haven't gone through many tanks of gas since then (only 5, yay), but the performance of the kit has been pretty good. Without the kit I normally average about 55 mpg in summer and 45 mpg in winter. The first full tank with the kit I didn't keep track of kWh used, and I was getting used to it and figuring out how to best use it. I got 64 mpg. By the second tank I had gotten the hang of it and kept track of my kWh used. Actual mpg was a very nice 79.0, and mpge was 65.3. That was my best tank for the season as most of the other tanks had more long distance driving where the PHEV kit couldn't be used as much since it has ~40 mile range. Now that it is working well with my custom BMS, I am very happy with the setup. I love EV mode and use it every day going to work and back.

I am pulling the kit out one more time though. I have a few weak batteries due to the abuse from the crappy stock BMS. I'll be returning them for new ones under warranty as my warranty is up at the end of this month. I'm confident that it'll last a long time once I get fresh batteries in it. I'm not deep cycling them at all during the daily commute, and I'm also limiting the max charge to about 80% to increase their life. I currently have no low voltage/low charge cutoff. However, I'll be adding an LED that lights up when the low voltage alarm on the celllogs goes off since I can't hear the alarms while driving. Unfortunately this can't be used to automatically shut down the PHEV kit due to issues with voltage sag variation. I may eventually add some sort of amp hour logging to automate some sort of low side cutoff, but its not really an issue for me 90% of the time since I only commute 15 miles a day. I will also be adding an ammeter on the output of the PHEV kit to show how much power its putting out. The SGII will show the OEM pack's in/out power use, but it doesn't really give an accurate picture of what the PHEV kit is actually doing.

[Stubone]

Has this kit matured enough for the average person to install and use. More specifically, could my less technical significant other, charge it and run it without having to watch it so close and maintain so much as Daox has in this thread. plugin and drive simple would be nice.

[Daox]

I'm honestly not sure. You'd have to talk to a user with a newer kit. Mine is older and the BMS has drastically changed since my purchase.

[bennelson]

I think that what Doax has done is "Beta Testing" and designing improvements to the system.

That setup has changed quite a bit since he got his.

I helped an installing another kit later (with Eric Powers) and Eric was surprised to see changes in the kit that he hadn't heard about yet when we opened it up.

As the most affordable/newest system out there, I think it's a great system for tinkerers and people who like to see what's going on.

I would definately agree about talking to somebody who has gotten the most recent version and see how they like it.

Under ideal circumstances, the point of the system is that you just plug it in when you get home, and unplug it before you leave. It shouldn't require any advanced knowledge or experience.