largest capacity PHEV system available?

I do believe Plug in Supply did a 20Kwh pack...not sure if it is the largest...Methinks that with current battery tech, unless the cells can be mounted lower, the handling effects become hard to compensate for.

 

If you op for the more dangerous LiPo cells, you can probably pack 30-40kw into the spare tire and the tray area. LiPo cells are far smaller and lighter than LiFePo4 and doesn't need a BMS. It wont last as long as LiFePo4 though. Disadvantages are short service life and thermal runaway.

 

so who makes these LiPo cells kits for the prius.. LOL

 

I'd say 80 miles or so. EPA would call it ~61.

If you removed the engine, and the fuel tank, and replaced with batteries, as well as filling the boot area, i'm sure you could get in excess of 30kwh in there. Sacrifice the middle rear seat and add a "transmission tunnel" and i reckon you could get up to 40kwh. Kind of expesnive though.

 

I don't think anybody.

 

With 8kWh in my Gen3 prius, I can feel the added weight when I do hill climbs and with acceleration. I think at some point there is a point of negative return in terms of battery size.

 

Yeah, there will be, though certainly at highway speeds not much of your energy is going towards ovecoming your rolling resistance, the majority is overcoming wind resistance. A slightly lower car actually helps in that respect!

 

You can pack 24KWH LiFePO4 into a Gen 1 Prius. We are testing a prototype High Performance Enginer kit.It can run at 99MPG over 110 Miles.

 

Interesting setup! I hope this is a $6k-$8k higher quality, better performing kit, to sit in between the lower quality lower performing $3k kits and the $11k+ hymotion/plugin supply kits.

 

What makes Enginer competitive is the price of their RFE batteries. So even a PIS type system using RFE batteries would be reasonably priced.

 

I guess you're right. They would sell you 10kwh of lithium for $4,500, which is a pretty good price.

 

I would expect that the price of a 10kwh kit would be priced half way between the 4kwh Enginer kit and the Hymotion/PIS kit.

 

I thought WOW, is this too good to be true? Unfortunately, I think so.

There is a mistake on the Enginer website, http://www.enginer.us/products/lifep04_battery.php concerning the Real Force 8F80AH. It is listed as "Four 3.2V cells in series," which comes out to 12.8V. That works out fine. BUT, next it says, " 80 Amp hours (2K watt-hours)." That's where the problem is. Because, the last time I checked, and also verified by this website
PV System Batteries AH * V = Watt Hours, so 80 AH * 12.8 V = 1024 Watt Hours, or just over 1 kWh. Not "2K watt-hours" as stated on the Enginer website.

 

No, it's true. It means four cells in parallel, and 8 in series. as in one box with 2kwh in it. the standard 4kwh kit is made of two of these. The product code (8F80AH) means 8series80amphour. $450 per kwh. Sure, they are not the best cells, don't come with a BMS, and don't deliver high enough amps for pure EV's, but for a PHEV they can add a good boost.

 

It would take 10 RFE battery packs of 24 volts 80ah in series to make a PIS system. At the quoted price of $900 each on the Enginer website makes a total of $9000 for a 19.2 KWH system. But you still have to consider designing a battery hold down rack. And a severe improvement of the suspension springs to allow the extra weight of 240 kg for the battery packs. Also take into account the delivery price of the battery packs. You would also need a BMSplus with a Canview and a OutOfGas fuse switch and then you have your own EV (only up to 88km/hour). What would you use for a BMS?

But I would prefer to wait to buy a Nissan Leaf which are not available in Australia yet. A reliable mass produced EV is a much better buy than a bunch of cheap and possibly unreliable Chinese batteries. Really who wants to be an Enginer/RFE test pilot?

 

I don't disagree with you on any particular point.

Having driven the Leaf it's a very nice prospect, but it is expensive. it also wouldn't be good enough for me as an only car right now. At least with a chinese-y phev setup you still have a functioning car if (when) the chinese bits break.

Back on topic, 10kwh of realforce lithium, arranged 2p80s would give you 256V 40A continuous. It wouldn't be good for an EV only mode, but would get excellent blended performance.

 

I agree, the 2P80S pack still needs a current limiter circuit like the DC converter uses to limit the battery voltage to a maximum of 242volts to protect the Prius NIMH from overcharge/overheating, the converter would have a 1:1 voltage boost ratio. Jack could be doing this and he could also be using a battery ECU CAN message modifier like the BMS+ to encourage more ICE assist. He could also use the Battery ECU CAN message modifier to run the HV fan at high speed whilst being charged by the 2P80S.
The 2p80s would somehow have to be protected from regen braking due to it's low charge limit of 0.5C. This could be done by the converter.

You would get a better performance in blended mode with a device which increases ICE assist like the BMS+ does.

 

If any PHEV system was available with more energy dense Li-ion cells you can make massive PHEV packs at low weight. A system that I am working on putting in my Prius with Li-ion cells will be 20.58kW and weigh 191.31lbs (cells only).

There are many, many safety factors that have to be taken into account, which is why most DIY's don't use Li-ion cells. Not even GM or Nissan will use them in their EV's, but they're the future...