Engineer with Coastal EV Mod?

Having a separate switch for EV should be just fine.

I have done installs where the headlight flash is used as well as ones where it has factory EV (Gen3 Prius) and it is just fine.

Basically you'll get to skip that step of the Enginer install procedure. I tape back the white wire on the Enginer harness just to make it clear that it is not being used.

 

It took me about 12 hours in total, spread across two days. The installation guide for gen3 is not very good, the one for gen2 is better and there is a video to watch as well. I made sure i had all the tools i needed in advance, as at certain points the car is inoperable so you'd better have the tool you need! I have pretty basic mechanical and electrical skills, but so long as you can use a drill, a multimeter, a spanner and have good physical strength, 12 hours on your own is reasonable.

The 6kwh kit is still in development, but it will apparently all fit in the existing case so may be worth the wait.

There isn't really an operating manual, but there are decent folks on the enginer forum who will answer your questions pretty quickly.

 

I would say set aside two days worth of time. This will give you time to take a breaks and actually enjoy the process.

You do not want to be rushed. Being in a rush and working on high voltage electric stuff is a bad combination.

There isn't really an operation manual. The components are ever changing so my guess is even if something was written, it would soon be out of date. A wiki would probably be better someday.

On the Enginer web site in the left hand column there are some manuals for installation as well as about the BMS's.

Enginer still lists 6kwh and 8 kwh systems on their web site http://www.enginer.us/products/conversion_kit.php

I've installed several 8kwh systems using mottcell batteries. If you plan on doing that, then set aside a good 25-35 hours worth of time. It's labor intensive and patience is necessary.

 

I fully agree with Eric here. I only installed the wiring in the front yesterday and it already took me about 4 hours to complete just that. It was freezing cold and I had to warm up in the house a few times but if you want to do it right it just takes time.

Getting the HV wiring and putting the battery box in tomorrow will probabaly take another 3 to 4 hours.

And then I also have to bolt the whole thing down to the car. So if you set aside two days you will have enough time to do it.

Also it is a good thing to prepare yourself. Read the instructions well and watch the video, I watched it twice before I even started.

 

Could I ask one of you kind souls to either describe how the car is doing after the conversion or point to a thread that covers this topic?

 

Just search for enginer and you'll find lots of threads. Personally, i had some problems (bad BMS, two bad battery cells) but am now operating stably. My sig is kept up to date with info, but at this point in time the car has over 3,000 miles on the kit and i just finished a whole tank at 99.9MPG on the display. Hopefully that was the first of many.

 

Hi Begreen,
I have a 2005 in Vancouver Wa. that is running with 8kwhr in it. I have had 2 cars with 4kwhr systems running for over a year and then I chose to put both systems into one car to get better range.

You are welcome to come see and drive the 2005 if you are close to this area. Shoot me an PM and we can communicate more.

I have installed and worked on several other systems also. The main issue is that the systems tend to have variuos failures over time. If you have a system installed you need to plan on needing to take it back to your installer for warranty repairs about 3 times in the first year.

Thanks,
Dan