Go Back   EcoModder Forum > EcoModding > Hybrids
Register Now
 Register Now
 

Reply  Post New Thread
 
Submit Tools LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 12-24-2009, 12:15 PM   This thread is in the EcoModder Project Library | #1 (permalink)
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 11,203

CM400E - '81 Honda CM400E
90 day: 51.49 mpg (US)

Daox's Grey Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
Team Toyota
90 day: 49.53 mpg (US)

Daox's Insight - '00 Honda Insight
90 day: 64.33 mpg (US)

Swarthy - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage DE
Mitsubishi
90 day: 56.69 mpg (US)

Daox's Volt - '13 Chevrolet Volt
Thanks: 2,501
Thanked 2,587 Times in 1,554 Posts
2nd Gen Prius PHEV Conversion (Enginer plug-in lithium ion battery kit)

Christmas came a bit early this year for me.

For those who don't know, the Enginer PHEV kit is an additional battery pack for the Prius. This Enginer pack is a plug in pack that charges from a household 110V outlet. The Enginer pack has a 3000W dc to dc converter. This converts the 48V pack power up to 240V+ to charge the OEM Prius battery pack. So, the Enginer pack never directly powers the car, it just keeps the OEM pack topped off forcing the Prius to use more electric power. Once the Enginer pack runs out, the dc to dc converter shuts off and you return to normal hybrid mode. Users of the Enginer kit usually see 30+% increase in fuel economy when in use. The main draw back is that the dc to dc converter is limited to 3000W which is only 4hp. This doens't allow you to maintain 30-35 mph for an extended period of time. So, I can't run for a reeeeal long time on EV mode.


Of course it all starts with a story, so here goes. I'd been tracking the packages since they shipped. The kit contains 4 packages total. FedEx's site claimed they delivered two of them last night. I get home from work, no packages. I was not a happy camper. I called them up and asked what the heck was going on. They confirmed that the two packages had been delivered, obviously to the wrong house and would check with the driver. Anyway, it snowed last night and I was out shoveling this morning and my neighbor yells to me that he has two packages for me in his garage. Phew, glad to have them.

Anyway, I drug them inside (one was ~70lbs) and started opening! Here are the pics. If anyone has any requests, let me know.


Boxes!




The small box had a lot of little goodies in it. The copper bars to connect the batteries together, the battery balancer harnesses, some mounting hardware and a wrench for assembly.




The larger box contained the stainless box that holds all the goodies in the car. The build quality is pretty good, however most of the bolts I had to take out didn't really come out with the greatest of ease. I had to use the wrench to get them all the way out, no spinning them just with my fingers. This was and still is a concern of mine. This entire thing is Chinese made, its only real downside IMO. However, everything does seem to line up pretty good. I know I've had some cheap computer cases that have stuff don't really line up and its a pain to assemble. This kit doesn't seem to have that problem at least from the tiny bit I've look at it so far.







Popping the box open shows that it wasn't shipped empty. All the main components are there.




The DC to DC converter.




The charger.




100A breaker.




Cell balancer.





So, it looks like the only thing I'm waiting on is the batteries to put in the box. We'll see if they get here today or not.

In the mean time I'm feeling quite tempted to crack open that 3000W DC to DC converter to see whats inside...

__________________
Current project: A better alternator delete

Last edited by Daox; 12-24-2009 at 03:10 PM.. Reason: added info
  Reply With Quote
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Daox For This Useful Post:
ChaseCares (02-27-2012), NeilBlanchard (12-24-2009), rgathright (12-24-2009), SVOboy (12-24-2009)
Alt Today
Popular topics

Other popular topics in this forum...

   
Old 12-24-2009, 12:31 PM   #2 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Lake Charles
Posts: 193

Black Beauty - '09 Honda Accord EX-L
90 day: 27.44 mpg (US)
Thanks: 12
Thanked 12 Times in 11 Posts
Thumbs up

A step by step topic on a 2nd Gen Prius PHEV conversion?

Awesome!

I would be very tempted get a Prius and do this myself if it works for you.
  Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to rgathright For This Useful Post:
rayman68 (12-03-2010)
Old 12-24-2009, 12:39 PM   #3 (permalink)
Gen II Prianista
 
Rokeby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Ballamer, Merlin
Posts: 453
Thanks: 201
Thanked 146 Times in 89 Posts
Doax,

Many thanks for starting this thread. I've been waiting/waiting to be able to
follow a DIY PHEV conversion from the git-go.

IIRC, the Enginer conversion has two battery options. If so, which one did you
get?

On the bolt hole issue; are you saying the holes in the "held on" piece need to
be redrilled, or the holes in the "held-to" piece retapped, or both?

Again, thanks, especially for the pix. I'll be looking in on you frequently.

Who knows, if all goes well -- both for your install, and for me --I could be
doing the same in the not too distant future.
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2009, 12:44 PM   #4 (permalink)
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 11,203

CM400E - '81 Honda CM400E
90 day: 51.49 mpg (US)

Daox's Grey Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
Team Toyota
90 day: 49.53 mpg (US)

Daox's Insight - '00 Honda Insight
90 day: 64.33 mpg (US)

Swarthy - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage DE
Mitsubishi
90 day: 56.69 mpg (US)

Daox's Volt - '13 Chevrolet Volt
Thanks: 2,501
Thanked 2,587 Times in 1,554 Posts
The Enginer actually has 4 options now. A 2, 4, 6, and 8 kWh pack. I got the 4kWh pack as it is currently on sale for $1200 less than normal!

The problem with the bolts is the tapped holes need to be chased just to open them up a little bit. Nothing that is horrible, just annoying.

Anyway, I forgot to mention this in the first post. One thing I'm not happy with is I was expecting to get 4 cell balancers with the 4kWh kit. A few days after ordering, I got an email from Jack saying I needed to wire the balancers in parallel as shown below. IMO this is NOT what you want. One cell could go bad or even just age faster than the other that it is in parallel with and the balancer would be useless in detecting this problem until both cells go bad.

I am in contact with Enginer trying to see if they'll provide me with the two more balancers that I had assumed I would get.

__________________
Current project: A better alternator delete

Last edited by Daox; 12-24-2009 at 01:21 PM..
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2009, 12:46 PM   #5 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
NeilBlanchard's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Maynard, MA Eaarth
Posts: 7,907

Mica Blue - '05 Scion xA RS 2.0
Team Toyota
90 day: 42.48 mpg (US)

Forest - '15 Nissan Leaf S
Team Nissan
90 day: 156.46 mpg (US)

Number 7 - '15 VW e-Golf SEL
TEAM VW AUDI Group
90 day: 155.81 mpg (US)
Thanks: 3,475
Thanked 2,950 Times in 1,844 Posts
Awesome! My Mom has a 2005 Prius, and eventually she will need to replace the batteries. I can hardly wait until you get this baby installed and find out how far a good ecodriver can go on a 4kW battery...
__________________
Sincerely, Neil

http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2009, 12:46 PM   #6 (permalink)
EV test pilot
 
bennelson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Oconomowoc, WI, USA
Posts: 4,435

Electric Cycle - '81 Kawasaki KZ440
90 day: 334.6 mpg (US)

S10 - '95 Chevy S10
90 day: 30.48 mpg (US)

Electro-Metro - '96 Ben Nelson's "Electro-Metro"
90 day: 129.81 mpg (US)

The Wife's Car - Plug-in Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
90 day: 78.16 mpg (US)
Thanks: 17
Thanked 663 Times in 388 Posts
Tim, I will be back in town on SUNDAY!
__________________


300mpg.org Learn how to BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTRIC CAR CHEAP
My YouTube Videos
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2009, 12:51 PM   #7 (permalink)
Dartmouth 2010
 
SVOboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hanover, NH
Posts: 6,447

Vegan Powa! - '91 Honda CRX DX
Team Honda
90 day: 66.52 mpg (US)
Thanks: 92
Thanked 122 Times in 90 Posts
Send a message via AIM to SVOboy Send a message via MSN to SVOboy Send a message via Yahoo to SVOboy
Looking good so far
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2009, 01:10 PM   #8 (permalink)
Batman Junior
 
MetroMPG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,528

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 62.14 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,078
Thanked 6,977 Times in 3,613 Posts
Tim: NICE Christmas present! Looks like UPS just brought you a bunch of fun.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
One thing I'm not happy with is I was expecting to get 4 cell balancers with the 4kWh kit. A few days after ordering, I got an email from Jack saying I needed to wire the balancers in parallel as shown below. IMO this is NOT what you want.
I agree this is not desirable.

The battery pack is the costliest part of this kit. You do not want to skimp on monitoring/protecting it at the individual cell level. It becomes even more important as the cells age and start to drift apart from one another in capacity/performance.

Even with the cheap, used lead acid batteries in the ForkenSwift, I would not be satisfied with a monitoring system that only showed me the performance of each pair of batteries. I want to know what each battery is doing to protect them from damage.

Sounds like they're just trying to cut costs.

But unless someone gives you a convincing technical reason the new setup (one monitor/balancer per pair of cells) is equal to the original (one per cell), I wouldn't be satisfied.
__________________
Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2009, 01:10 PM   #9 (permalink)
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 11,203

CM400E - '81 Honda CM400E
90 day: 51.49 mpg (US)

Daox's Grey Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
Team Toyota
90 day: 49.53 mpg (US)

Daox's Insight - '00 Honda Insight
90 day: 64.33 mpg (US)

Swarthy - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage DE
Mitsubishi
90 day: 56.69 mpg (US)

Daox's Volt - '13 Chevrolet Volt
Thanks: 2,501
Thanked 2,587 Times in 1,554 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by bennelson View Post
Tim, I will be back in town on SUNDAY!
Haha, I will be impatiently awaiting your return. Me and Ben will be doing the install this Sunday. However, it seems I won't have all my batteries by then. Of the 2 packages left to come, one isn't going to be here until the 30th. I am assuming that each package is 2kWh worth of batteries.

In the mean time I am going to dig through the stuff I do have, get it setup and ready for install.
__________________
Current project: A better alternator delete
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2009, 01:15 PM   #10 (permalink)
Batman Junior
 
MetroMPG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,528

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 62.14 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,078
Thanked 6,977 Times in 3,613 Posts
So the question is: are you going to wait patiently for all 4 kWh, or set it up as a 2 kWh kit and try it out before the 2nd batch of cells comes?

__________________
Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
  Reply With Quote
Reply  Post New Thread




Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Gen I (2001-2003 Prius ) 30 Battery Modules for sale Matt Herring Fossil Fuel Free 0 10-17-2009 02:39 PM
"Sonata" Lithium Ion battery NeilBlanchard General Efficiency Discussion 0 09-08-2008 04:19 PM



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.5.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com