2010-2015 prius ac compressor option?
 

Hello all,
I have been dreaming of doing an electric ac system retrofit into a non hybrid vehicle, without adding access weight.
This is more due to engine bay space and as always mileage in mind.
so my thought has been a 3rd generation Toyota Prius ac compressor has it's own inverter on the compressor its self so aside from the controller its self you only need to supply DC power and ground to compressor.
My goal is to use a DC booster to run 24v to the compressor to avoid trying to also retrofit the Prius 201.6v H.V. battery as well, as stated before the lighter the better
Now the question and hurtle that I am facing is:
1) I don't know how to program
2) I don't know the inverter/controller pinout on the compressor
so this is where I reach out to the brilliance on this forum of anyone and everyone that has experience in this area or possible solution for controller?
Thanks in advance

What do you want to program?

Basically Program a Controller to plug in like an Arduino to run the compressor or something of that sort or if anyone could find a way to run the stock controller

Easiest way to do it might be to find the technical specs on the compressor, such as voltage and Hz then power the compressor with a non or less proprietary varrible frequency drive.
But I am unaware of a drive that doesn't require at least 120v 60Hz input power.

some info I found on another forum.

"A Gen 3 takes the motor control and compressor inverter circuitry out of the main box and into the compressor itself. The orange cables to the Gen 3 compressor are just straight power feed. It gets CAN bus commands over the low voltage connector and controls its own motor accordingly, and reports back its own status."

What do those orange cables connect to? 12v, or directly to the high voltage battery?

I have ABSOLUTELY NO idea what i am talking about but the battery connections to the high voltage packs i have seen (on internet pictures) were all orange, i think.

Still not a problem. Of it is low enough amps you can use a boost converter to get the voltage.

BUUUT if it is high enough amps, and you do not have a large enough battery that you charge at home OR you use some form of regenerative braking, you are better off running it off the IC engine, probably.

This is true in my Insight. Any high voltage cable was orange, and no cable that was orange was not high voltage.

If that's the case, OP would need a 144v battery to run that compressor. Trying to get enough amps through a low voltage cable will be trouble.

Best I can find, the factory inverter for the compressor does in fact run from 200v DC. I doubt it would work from 24v DC. A replacement inverter running on 12v DC would probably need to draw around 60 amps, which is 6 gauge wire, and you probably need a controller for the compressor motor too. I could see this getting very expensive. And, it will probably be less efficient than belt driven, if we assume the alternator is expected to provide these 60 amps. Alternators are generally very inefficient.

How about something like this?
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...e88f2b3fMXcehC

I was incorrect in my OP it won't run off 24v as it is run directly off the H.V. battery.
I would need a controller to run the compressor motor, I had thought about utilizing the inverter/converter assy out of the Prius as well, however I believe I would need to basically use all the wiring out of the Prius to pull that off due to H.V. ecu, compressor ecu, ...etc.

However what about an option like this?
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...57685ee1sGGyEG
Run from it's own 12v battery with Isolator fed from 200a alternator?

After alternator losses, putting the electricity in the battery and taking it back out, I'd be surprised if it were 25% as efficient as a belt-driven pump, unfortunately.

Those 12 Volt (or 24 - 48 - 72 Volt) compressors linked to on alibaba run in the range 3500 to 8500 btu/h (for the 72 Vdc version at 770 W).
Cars, generally have an A/C between 50,000 and about 60,000 btu/h.
I don't know much about the Prius electric compressor, but I don't hear a lot of complaints. Toyota spec. says the compressor consumes 4500 watts. About 7 of those Zhejiang BOYARD units.
-mort

I can help you with the coding.

What have you decided to do in light of this new information?



I am not %100 sure if this will work, but let me try to “push” my idea to you.
Treat the AC load the same way as the hybrid cars treat the battery. What you would need to do is, activate the AC clutch only when you are applying brakes or trying to do engine braking. This way your AC has virtually no load on your engine when it is trying to do its work. Depending on your driving conditions, it could be advantageous to increase the amount of coolant in the AC loop.

But it also runs at 208V :-/.

Even a big one for 312VDC (?!)
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1535495705
Wonder what that costs.
-mort

You should probably look at other vehicles with start stop systems that also have E compressors to give you ac with the engine off. Would be more in line with what you want to do.