Engier PHEV for *NORMAL* drivers (High Speed)

Hi 240sxer,
I have a 2005 with the 4kwhr kit. I was getting 45mpg before the kit and now I am getting 65mpg with the kit. I started with quite a modified driving patern but now I am getting just a little more agressive while still geting the improved mileage.

Your coment about "I rarely make any trips that are under 30 miles." makes me wonder. I pretty much drained the Enginer batteries at 35 miles. If your doing 60 to 100 miles, I would suggest that Plug-in may not be the best for you. After about 40 miles you are carrying extra weight but not getting any more advantage.

Thanks,
Dan Lander

 

240sxer,
A couple of questions for you
1) Where do you live? Just wondering, because in cold climates you will not be able to use the system as much as someone in a warmer climate.
At this point in time you WILL have to attend to the batteries when they are charging. You will need to make sure they do not over charge.
For now, it's not like your cell phone where you can simply plug it in and let it charge all by itself. This may change in the future, but it is simply a fact for now.

2) How long (time-wise) are your average trips?

As for miles on your odometer, the actual mileage on your vehicle should not make any difference.

Lastly you mention 4kwh system at the beginning of your post but 8kwh at the end of your post. Which are you considering?

 

Mostly what determines if you're a good fit for the Enginer kit or not, is how tech-savvy and patient you are. It's not a plug-and-play kit, it takes some baby sitting to get it to work properly.

If you expect it to be a plug-and-play kit, then you'll be disappointed. If you want a plan-and-play kit - prepare to pay through the nose for it.

Real all the Enginer threads for examples of what you need to do to get the most out of the kit.

 

Possibly the next iteration of the Enginer system which will have a better BMS system will work.

Please read all the other Enginer threads - there's a wealth of info spread in them.

 

Hi Again,
So now you are sounding more like a candidate for this kit. To get the full benifit you would need to charge at work.

I have done a charge everyday for the last 10 days. I have to monitor the end of the charge and shut it down manually before a cell overcharges. The longest charge was for 6 hours. The shortest was for 2 hours. I use a clamp-on DC ammeter to tell when the charge is getting to the end.

Others are using a timer. I will let them tell you about that. My suggestion to you would be to charge at work using a timer and then do a full charge at home monitoring the end of charge.

Here is my thread if you want some more detail.
First Enginer PHEV install in the Portland Or area, Gen2

Thanks,
Dan

 

240SXER,

I live in sunny So. Cali. also. I have a 2010 Prius with 8 kWh of batteries from Enginer. I have to admit I try to hypermile until traffic does not allow it so I am probably a bad example of a normal driver. My total daily commute is about 70 miles and I charge at work also. I am getting about 85~90 mpg on the average using only one converter. Dan is right though, if you cannot charge at work then you will need at the minimum of 8kWh of batteries just to get thru your daily commute. Besides that I think you can benefit from the Enginer Kit. Keep in mind that it is a little tricky at first but after a good month of charging and discharging you should be good but really hard to say.

Just get thru all the threads about the Kit and it should give you a good idea on how the system is.

 

Dan,
I'm just wondering whether you think Enginer kits, in their current configuration (no modifications), will ALWAYS need to watched during end portion of the charge?

Or will there become a time where people like 240sxr can simply plug in the kit at 5pm, and come back at 7am, assured that the batteries never went to high?

 

Hi Eric,
I do not know about "come out a 7am" but I am confident that I can make this work with a reasonable charge process.

I am still learning. Today I plug it in and monitor voltage and current for about 2 minutes. Then I check on it every 30 minutes. I think I could even wait to check on it every hour and still acurately predict the time frame when I will have risk of an alarm within about 10 minutes. When I get the alarm I am within 10 minutes of the charger shutting down anyway. This means that even if I had missed the alarm I would not have had any damage.

For people that are not so technical and/or not so attentive to all the details, I would propose a timer shut-off today. I think they could then walk away and return in the morning with 90% of what they would have had if they had been babysitting the system.

Enginer is working on improved balancers and charging. I think that in 3 to 6 months this will all be much easier.

In the meantime I am pushing Jack to get adjustments that will make the curent charger more friendly.

Thanks,
Dan