Hello from Knoxville Tennessee!

[stwandell]

I’m on my 6th Toyota hybrid. 2004, 2005, 2010, 2008 Prius; 2006, 2008 Highlander Hybrids. I’ve always been disappointed in fuel economy of each of these. Only until recently did I begin to question the details of the hybrid battery and how it all actually works and what can be done to improve fuel economy.

I picked up a traction battery from junk yard for $200 from an ‘08 Prius. I didn’t get the fan because I didn’t know where it was. I had been into my gen3 and it’s right next to the battery. I have been experimenting charging individual modules, the entire set of modules in parallel, balancing in 7.2v parallel and finally buying an LED driver rated at ~257V at 350ma. I have had some glitches when trying to get 12v power to fan while using grid charger. I’m guessing there is more to it than connecting an AC adapter putting out 12v at 3amps to the fan… it just pulses. So I just put a spare 12v in the back and connected leads to power the fan while “grid charging”.

I now have a reconditioned battery in my 2008 Prius and I have an entire spare traction battery and trying to figure out what to do with it. I had briefly considered a parallel configuration traction system but decided that was more complex than I wanted to even attempt. However, the idea to take the extra traction battery and configure it as a giant 14.4v battery connected in parallel to the 12v yellow top optima has me wondering… anyone else tried this? Benefits, risks, anyone tried it before?

Shawn

[freebeard]

How much does it weigh?

Could you stand it up against the garage wall and add a controller to make a [lower-case 'p'] powerwall?

[stwandell]

Not sure, perhaps 80lbs. What’s a power wall?

[freebeard]

https://www.tesla.com › powerwall
Powerwall | Tesla
Powerwall is an integrated battery system that stores your solar energy for backup protection, so when the grid goes down your power stays on. Your system detects outages and automatically recharges with sunlight to keep your appliances running for days. Security: Backup Protection. Order Now. Every solar purchase includes Powerwall, a compact home battery that reduces your reliance on the grid by storing your solar energy for use when the sun isn't shining.

At 80lb it's more comparable to an Ecoflo Delta/Bluetti or equivalent.

[billyjack]

Hey, stwandell. Not too far away from you. Not one whit of knowledge to share with you re: batteries, but hey nonetheless!