Gen2 Prius work vehicle

[veloman]

Okay, some updates. I tested the current draw on the 12v battery while not in drive mode. It's easily 120-230watts depending if the headlights are on. So that's the first thing to apply my extra battery storage to. I have an old 7cell 10ah lithium pack. So that's 250watt hours. Or 1.5miles mile of low load EV driving. So if I do 20 miles over at least one hour that day, I can theoretically increase my mpg by 7.5℅. maybe even more because if you think about how the 12v battery is charged, it's by the HV pack through. The engine may run for less time since it won't have to put those 300wh into the HV pack. Running the engine just to charge the battery is really inefficient.
Experiments will tell in time. I will step down my 7cell pack to 13v to reduce the drain on the 12v battery.

In time I will add a small solar panel to the dashboard area to keep my 7cell pack charged.

On to my custom rear cargo rack. I put two steel tabs on the bumper bar tonight. They extend through the bumper. Next I will use them to anchor the forward part of the rack. I think the bumper bar can hold 200lbs easily. This will greatly reduce the load on the hitch which will only need to support half other weight as before.