2010-2015 prius ac compressor option?

[JLC]

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

[teoman]

What do you want to program?

[JLC]

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

[oil pan 4]

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.

[JLC]

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."

[Ecky]

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

[teoman]

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.

[teoman]

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.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by teoman

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

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.

[Ecky]

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.