4kwh Enginer GenIII PHEV in UK

I am getting mine soon, expecting ship to dock in a couple of weeks.
As to the heat I am fitting a hot frog on a timer and a partial grill block, should be toasty by the time I get in the car in the mornings.

 

Good luck with getting the replacement promptly, it will be interesting to see how long hopefully without finding out for ourselves ;-)

 

A hot frog isn't a term as such more a make, it is an all in one solution made by a German company, they are reliable and simple to install, the best thing about it is the pump and thermostat is built in and can heat whole cooling system not just conduct heat from one point.

 

Hi do you have a link to this product

 

Hi GrumpyCabbie

Good point about the insurance, I have a system from Dec 2009 and have re-insured twice now without problem or extra cost but you do need to explain what the mod does.

You don't need to travel that far to find Enginer systems as I know of one in Yorkshire and mine just over the North Yorkshire border in Darlington.

 

I can't find a USA version but this is the link to one on ebay for UK PCers
engine preheater block heater coolant heater HOT FROG on eBay (end time 26-Dec-10 12:01:07 GMT)

 

I got the same problem but with charger. It just doesn't work. It alwas flashing red led.

 

Hi Simtronic, thanks for the link it is just what I have been looking for and as I am in the UK I have just ordered one.

 

I had some amazing results with my first testdrive today and everything seems to be working just fine, short report here: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...3-whats-enginer-like-drive-3.html#post1231252

But in this cold my garage is around 0 to 1 degrees Celsius and that is too cold to charge without damaging the batteries.
There is still some charge left in them (12%) so if I first switch it on to discharge tomorrow, would that not warm up the batteries so it is safe to charge them after a few minutes?

 

I don't see a problem to charge them if temperature is over 0 degrees. Batteries will warm up when they are charging up. It is always better to have cool batteries than hot ones.

 

Okay, thank you Akusta! The garage is alway a little above freezing, I will just charge them...

 

I have no garage and it is often below freezing at this time of year, if I put them on charge as soon as I get in the drive I know the batteries will be warm enough or does someone know something I don't?

 

There is about charging at low temperatures:
Charging at high and low temperatures

Maybe you can check with thermometer do they stay over zero Celsius? Or start planning some kind of thermal blanket…

 

The more I think about it the less I worry, the battery is in the back of the car, I use the heater while driving and it would take a fair amount of time for the pack to cool down being inside the car. The charging process itself will keep the pack warm during charge. One question I do have though is about the charger. I am in the Uk and am being supplied with a 220v charger. Does anyone know the approximate charge time for a 4kw pack with this charger? I imagine it will be similar to the 110v decided by charger amp rating, anyone know?

 

My early system (December 2009) takes an average of 4hrs to recharge on 220v

 

Blimey you've got me intregued. Which system do you have? 2kw or 4kw? Am tempted once my warranty is out but I might wait for the official PHEV Prius and am even toying with a Nissan Leaf if I can get the council (or whoever) to install a 30 min fast charger.

 

The official Leaf dealer is Leeds - 15 miles away! hmmm