Bought a 2007 Camry Hybrid

[vskid3]

I did a quick mockup this morning with cardboard. The cardboard is held to the clips using M5 screws and I designed a spot on the back of the clips for a nut. It seems that the lip I was counting on for the clips to hold to isn't uniform in size (I measured and test fit using the other wheel well). I'll probably use hot glue to make sure they're secure for testing and use some epoxy or silicone if it's to become a permanent feature. I plan on having metal brackets towards the bottom for extra security. The skirt will have to be shorter to not rub on the tire, unless I want to have it bow out.

I kind of want to go full basjoos (probably a shorter tail) on it and see if I can get it to match the Prius' mileage.








MetroMPG- It took me a bit to find the fuel economy displays in the center screen. I was excited to find that I wouldn't have to make due with the little screen in the cluster. I hope my wheel skirts work out better than the ones you tried on your sister's Camry.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

I ended up only going with partial rear wheel skirts on my Civic in combination with smooth wheel covers. Bending the material to clear the wheels made it stick out and slightly reduced gas mileage. My best prototype rubbed against the wheels, which I removed. Combined with smooth wheel covers, the partial rear wheel skirt that I did provided most of the benefits of a rear wheel skirt. Just a thought in case you have trouble clearing the wheels with your skirts.

EDIT: Continuing the skirts down lower and combining them with rear wheel spats might've helped even more, but I didn't get that far in ecomodding with the car.

[MetroMPG]

I talked to my sister about her Camry just yesterday, in fact.


She's trying to decide what vehicle to get next. Current top picks are: the A-Team van or a 1970 GTO.

[MetroMPG]

Am I right in reading in your Prius thread that the Camry's battery isn't happy?

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Am I right in reading in your Prius thread that the Camry's battery isn't happy?

Yep, Prius battery took a poop a couple weeks ago followed closely by the Camry throwing a code. I swapped the good modules from the Camry into the Prius so I could get the Prius to pass emissions and to have a working car.

I'm considering rebuilding the Camry's battery with these new modules and then piecing together a functioning pack for the Prius using the stock modules from the two cars. It doesn't make a ton of sense to drop ~$2k into a car with 205k miles, but I figure if anything happens to the Camry, I can just swap the new modules into the Prius or pick up a Camry with a dead battery. I would be a few modules short if I did it the other way around and got the new modules for the Prius and then had to put them in the Camry.

[MetroMPG]

Bummer that they both took a poop at once.


But it's nice to have the ability to mix & match to get one vehicle moving again.


On the other hand, be careful: having interchangeable parts is how you end up having 4 Metros on hand... and only enough parts for one fully working car.

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

On the other hand, be careful: having interchangeable parts is how you end up having 4 Metros on hand... and only enough parts for one fully working car.

Haha, I shouldn't run into that issue where I currently live, just a driveway with enough room for 2 cars that are supposed to be serviceable. Though I could clean out the 1 car garage and hide a parts car in there...

[S Keith]

Originally Posted by vskid3

Yep, Prius battery took a poop a couple weeks ago followed closely by the Camry throwing a code. I swapped the good modules from the Camry into the Prius so I could get the Prius to pass emissions and to have a working car.

I'm considering rebuilding the Camry's battery with these new modules and then piecing together a functioning pack for the Prius using the stock modules from the two cars. It doesn't make a ton of sense to drop ~$2k into a car with 205k miles, but I figure if anything happens to the Camry, I can just swap the new modules into the Prius or pick up a Camry with a dead battery. I would be a few modules short if I did it the other way around and got the new modules for the Prius and then had to put them in the Camry.

I mentioned I have no experience with the BeeMax cells, but I have approximately 13 months of experience with the linked supplier's battery. I purchased a second hand pack from a hybrid service provider. At the time, it was around 4 months old and had about 4K miles on it, and it had sat for about 2 months before I obtained it. It is my understanding that it is one of the first, if not THE first, batteries he sold.

I conducted testing on the modules prior to installation. They all tested at about 6300 vs. 6500mAh of rated capacity. This is comparable what I see on very good used modules from mild to moderate climates. For Phoenix-only batteries, 10+ year old modules with 150K+ miles can yield about 5500 after reconditioning.

I installed the pack in mid-June of 2018. Of particular note was the wild discrepancies in internal resistance. There was a 0.007Ω spread, e.g., .024-.031. New Toyota batteries have a 0.000 spread, and an original Toyota battery typically has no significant spread (.000 - .002) except for any blocks with failed cells. Approximately 4 months later, I conducted a capacity test via Techstream and noted a 40% decrease in capacity.

At the 13 month mark in it's second Phoenix summer, it is performing worse than the worn-out reconditioned battery I removed to install it. When I have time, I plan to pull it, test the individual modules and report comprehensive results.

My biggest concern has been cooling. I recently conducted an experiment where I checked back every 10 minutes after shut down. At the time I turned the car off, the battery was at about 130°F. One the 3rd or 4th trip back, I saw temperatures above 150°F. This indicates that the core of the thick D cell is MUCH hotter than the surface where the probe is mounted.

On "D" cells in general, the reliability of the Honda cells, the premium "D" cells made by Panasonic vs. Chinese-made cells, has been notably inferior to the Toyota prismatic module. I have a lot of personal experience with Panasonic made Honda "D" cells.

The Honda data suggests that "D" cells are inferior in general, and my experience suggests that "D" cells in a Prius in a hot environment are inferior to Toyota prismatic modules by a large degree.

Aside from this experiment, I would never consider kits from that manufacturer for use in anything but a very mild climate.

Additionally, while the individual sub-packs are interchangeable, the supporting hardware is not. You can't take one for a Camry and put it in a Prius. The cables and harnesses are not interchangeable.

[vskid3]

Yikes, that doesn't sound good. Temps here are nothing like Phoenix, but July and August get pretty hot. I wonder if the space between the cells actually hurts the cooling unless the fan speed is bumped up. The Sanyo D cells in the Escape hybrid seem to hold up well, but they also have a cooling system better than some EV batteries.

I guess I'll have to get all the loose modules clamped together in the Camry pack and start checking capacity and reconditioning.

[redpoint5]

Cobbling together a working battery from used cells sounds like a way to ensure you'll have to do it again soon. I might consider it if it didn't take much time, otherwise I'd want to do it once and be done for the life of the vehicle.