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

[Cobb]

Wow, sorry to hear that. Yeah, these lifepo4 cells will run away if you do not keep an eye on them. The real force metal boxes has those aluminum foil like pouches and 8 a box for 24 volts. I had the gem(?) ones in the 2 kilowatt kit and the website I think was AZ power claimed they had vents and were safe all around.

Unltil I fully understood the whole setup I carried a class 3 fire extinguisher around with me and the one included in the kit of the prius 2 box.

[Cobb]

Got a question. Do you see a reduced capacity of almost half in extreme hot or cold weather? When the weather is below 30 or above 100 both with use or ac and heat I can only manage 2 vs 4 hours of run time before I get the beep, beep, beep, beep and the inverter shuts off due to low voltage. I didnt think lifepo4 batteries were that sensitive to extreme temperatures like other batteries and these are mounted above the ima box between the shock towers in this hatch back vehicle.

I use to have an issue in the summer with the inverter cutting out due to heat, but putting it under the rear floor vs in the back in the prius box and running the ac 15 minutes before turning it on solved that.

[Daox]

I've seen reduced dc-dc converter output in cold and hot weather. I wouldn't say reduced capacity though. Then again its rare for me to run my pack empty. Cold weather will reduce the capacity, it shouldn't be by half.

[Daox]

I finished the first round of testing on the cells. I've done some 2nd and 3rd tests on a few cells and I'll do some more for sure for more info. I'm going to try to cycle the lower cells (highlighted) to get their capacity up over 30 Ah. I'm also going to repeat the test a bunch of times on a strong cell just to see how accurate the charger can repeat itself.

[Cobb]

Wow, my setup only has 16 cells and it seems the last cell of each pack has the lower of the readings. I use to balance/cycle them but had a battery repair guy tell me its good to have a bad cell as it helps to limit the cycles and extends the life of the good cells. His reasoning was if i balanced all the cells, when it wont cut my needs, I got to buy 16 mo cells. If I let that one cell slip, when it interrupts my commute, I only have 1 cell to replace.

I havent seen any limiting and from Jack he said its either off or on. I have the 5000 watt stamped converter rated at 100-130 volts with a fan on either end of the housing. I am guessing that is peak vs continious rating.

I really do not know how it works in regards to delivery of power. Ive used old batery chargers that has a linear output, the deader the battery, the more amps flows and vice versa. Well, with the enginer kit Ive seen a lot of amps at high voltages and at times low amps at low voltages.

I use to pop the sd card out of the bms version 3.2 and read it daily, after trips and weekly to none at all. It drove me crazy trying to figure it out.

I guess its possible I burn more power in extreme heat or cold. I do know typically I get 4 hours of use before it needs charging. I cant speak for idling, but idling withthe ac on it draws 300 watts. I have it set for 17 amps and 119 volts. I do know in colder weather the eld or charging system stays on longer and in the summer if I use the ac on blower setting 3 or more or if I am above 40 mph it turns on too.

I dont want to start a pissing contest, I just wondered if you had similar experiencs. Ive written Jack and he said the reduce battery run time was normal as my car is not garage kept.

[Daox]

Well, we do have different hardware. My converter is the older 3000W converter. I'm unsure how thermal limiting works. What I have noticed is that in cold weather it takes a little while to get the amps to start flowing. I monitor my amps in/out of the HV pack with my SGII. In hot weather I try to keep the car cool and I don't really see thermal throttling back unless it is really hot out. I agree though, the converter's output doesn't seem to follow a strict logic that I have been able to figure out yet. When I reinstall the kit this time, I plan on adding an ammeter to the battery side of the PHEV kit. This way I'll be able to measure the exact amp draw on the PHEV batteries. The SGII only shows amps in/out of the HV pack, so its hard to tell exactly how much power the PHEV is putting out.

[Cobb]

I had Jack tell me the diodes are the weak point and if I upgrade those I could push more than 17 amps without causing the magic smoke to leak out.

From what I have read and experience is that the mo amps it pushes the mo mpg you get. I caught mines during the initial testing of MO POWER to see how much I could push for mpg before triggering an IMA fault. Seems once I am above 40 mph or have the eld on by way of an electrical load the sky was the limit. I achieved 103 mpg with extended use of ev mode hypermiling and with use of cc and aero mods managed in the mid 90s on my way to work on i95.

Anyway, let me ask you this. How do I get the sg2 to read anything other than the basic stuff of a hybrid? Ive sent mines into have it upgraded and tries countless programing from the manual, website and the prius chat website with no luck. I had one guy tell me I need the PID from Honda to read any of the hybrid data like the Prius will display, another guy said its onthe K lead of the odb2 port and needed a special reader with matching software as the sg2 doesnt connector to those leads on the odb2 plug.

[Daox]

I'm really not sure, but I would assume that you should be able to access the hybrid info if you knew how to setup the x-gauges for an Insight. Thankfully, someone was knowledgeable enough to figure out the Prius stuff and I just use what they came up with.

More amps is certainly the key to higher mileage. For me it would also mean longer distances at higher speed EV mode use. Going my max speed of ~34 mph its pretty hard to eek out 5 miles before I've dropped my HV pack down enough where it kicks the engine in (and that is with charging up the HV before leaving too). More amps would allow less precharging and more sustained EV use which would not only be less of a pain, but also easier on the HV pack.

[Cobb]

Yes, Ive spent a lot of time pressing those 5 buttons setting up x guages, both before and after my sg2 was updated at their HQ. Seems the only one that works is the HP one and its accuracy is subjective as is, not to mention I get power from the IMA system. Still interesting to see between 3-6 hp to maintain45-55 mph.

Have you considering getting a battery pack to put between your porius pack and the enginer system? I had an idea to get another honda pack, hook up the blower to run continious to keep it cool and use a set of diodes to keep power from going into it from the IMA system. This way the PHEV converter has a buffer to help the high drain of ev mode.

Id contact Enginer if I were you, I heard something about 100 volts and 40 amps earlier today.

Maybe as soon as I can post attachments Ill do a post and youtube video of my install?

[RH77]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Maybe as soon as I can post attachments Ill do a post and youtube video of my install?

I look forward to seeing the details of your project. In stock form, the vehicle has so much potential, but seems held back with affordable comprises. As Daox mentioned, we're definitely in the minority with respect to the volumes of Prius data out there.

Best FE,

RH77