Plug-In Supply DIY

Status report on my PIS 4kwh kit usage:
Miles traveled so far on this tank: depending on who you believe...
278 (MFD) - 280 (SGII)
Gasoline used:
2.08 gal.
MPG: 133.7 or 134.6
gal/100 miles: .748 or .743
lifetime prior to install: 1.76gal/100 miles
gasoline use: 57.5% or 57.8% reduction
original goal: 60% or greater reduction in gasoline use

My 60% or more reduced gas use goal was set based on 60% commute miles per tank. Of the ~280 miles on the tank, ~120 have been commute miles: 42.9% commute miles. That's low because week 1 of this tank I was off from work. The percent of commute miles will be going up as time goes by and I hope to see the 60% or better reduction in gas usage before I refill the tank.

I have not been recording my cumulative electric usage. However, on any specific charge I have seen Kill-O-Watt meter values of 3.15 to 3.35 kwh and a high of 3.71 kwh.

 

Based on my experience with PIS, I wouldn't doubt this duping theory. Haven't received any software updates at all.

 

Chonnyton,
Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

MJ,
What's your max EV speed?? Is it 52 or 70 MPH?

 

Hi Chonnyton,

I replaced the springs on my 2004 Prius with heavy springs. It is not that hard. You can buy the heavy springs for 500 pound load on EBay Heavy Batteries? Toyota Prius Rear Springs, 500 Pounds Extra Payload Capacity | eBay. This should raise your Prius rear by two inches higher. If you decide to keep the kit. Such a shame to have to rip it out to sell it to somebody else.
I had the same problem with those optocoupled relays with my miniBMS. I would not be surprised if Robb had ripped off Dimitri's miniBMS design and changed it and then patented it as his own.

 

Hey, thanks Lopez.

If I am not able to sell this kit, I'll definitely have to buy this upgrade. Do you think these will work with the Gen III Prius?

 

I rarely take the highway. Based on Scangauge readings, I was able to sustain SHM on a slight downhill grade for 2-3 miles @~60 mph. I did not try to run above 60.

I drove in to work this morning with one leg on highway @~60 mph. The highway leg was ~8 miles...total distance for trip was 18.5 miles and used .11 gal. of gas. I put 3.54kwh into the pack when I got to work. The first leg of the trip was secondary roads @~45mph...about 7 miles of that. This was a mix of EV and blended mode driving. Most of the blended mode driving was the highway driving. The Scangauge read .25 to .45 gph for large parts of the highway distance.

When I drive my primary route of 16.8 miles on secondary roads, speeds are mostly 35 mph with a 3.5 mile stretch at 45 mph. I can normally drive that route using .07 gal. of gas. A third route I did yesterday was 19.5 miles on secondary roads and used .07 gal of gas also. However, charging after that trip used 3.71 kwh which is the most I've ever put into the battery pack at a time. The two routes on secondary roads take about the same amount of time and gas usage. The longer one uses more electricity and the same amount of gas.​

​

Driving the highway route takes about 1/3 less time than the other routes...we're talking about 10-12 mins or so. My objective in getting this kit was to reduce gas consumption. Since the hwy route uses more gas than the other routes, I will only take it when time is a factor.​

​

The major drawback I've found with this kit is keeping the engine warm enough that the computer doesn't start the ICE up every time you blink. I think what I need is an ICE kill hack and/or temperature hack. I think the pack has enough juice to make the trip completely if I could just find a way to keep the ICE from starting.​

 

Has anyone heard of a successful installation of this Plug-In Supply conversion kit, in a Ford Escape Hybrid?
I have only recently looked at their website. How long has the conversion kit been listed as "coming soon," for the Highlander Hybrid?

 

Thanks MJ. I appreciate all the info. So I'm guessing the answer to my question is 60?

 

Well, not really. All I can say is that I was able to run at 60 without using fuel. Anyone can do that without a PHEV if the conditions are right. However, Scangauge reported the ICE was spinning because the rpm value was non-zero.

I have not 'tested' accelerating from zero to 60 slowly enough to know if it can be done with the PIS pack. And I'm not really interested in doing it because my daily commute doesn't require it. If I needed to get on the highway I'd use gas to get up to speed and then try to maintain the speed as best as possible with minimal gas usage.

 

I haven't heard of any in a Ford Escape. The "coming soon" has been there for quite a while. I'm not sure exactly how long though.

 

Status update 7/27/2012 - post morning commute:

• Pack in use since 7/9/2012
• Total miles driven - 568 per MFD
• Total gasoline used - 3.84 gallons per Scangauge
• MPG: 147.92
• .676 gal/100 miles
• KWH used: not being tracked (boo!!!) one-way commute averages around 3.2 KWH for ~17 mile trip. Top speed of 45mph during 3.5-4 miles of trip; the rest is 30-38mph depending on traffic and lights.
• Approximately 60 of the above miles were at highway speed (~60mph).

I have had several instances of the pack becoming depleted. Since there is no gauge giving the SOC for the pack, I have to infer when it's depleted. Symptoms are normally the Scangauge 'soc' value suddenly dropping from 74%+ to <60%. When the pack is operating, the soc value flips between 74% and 79%. The Scangauge will occasionally flicker (< 1/2 second) the true soc value.

One disturbing development recently: the pack seems to have lost some capacity. On several occasions, I have only been able to charge 2.8KWH into it even though I think I used more. This typically happens the charge after the pack depleted 'early'. I will keep an eye on it. I'm going to check the voltage of the entire pack, and of each battery assembly after charging.

 

There could be some spurious noise creating a LVC alarm, or the high C rating could be causing the voltage one of the cells to dive early. You could use some Cellog8S devices to log the pack activity to see what's happening. You'd need nine of them though :/

 

Status update - 8/7/2012: first fuel-up.
Total miles driven: 1037
Total gas used: 7.705 gal (per pump...scangauge showed ~7.820) - cost: $30.50
KWH used: unknown; did not track...no automated way to record info.
Calculated MPG: 134.6

Prior to this past weekend, I was getting ~154mpg. My dad and his wife arrived for a visit Saturday and I've been doing a lot of driving without being able to recharge fully. Add to that several trips beyond the range of the pack and the average mpg drops like a rock. Still, 134.6 mpg isn't too bad for my first >1000 mile tank ever.

I got my first electric bill last week after installing the pack. Based on daily usage for the house circuit (as opposed to the Air Conditioning circuit) my daily electric increased by 4.3KWH. At ~$.16/kwh this comes to an additional $16.51 for the 24 days after I started using the pack...$.688/day.

Last fill-up was 7/9/2012, so the tank lasted 29 days. Meaning it cost ~$1.052 in gas and $.688 in electricity per day giving $1.74 cost per day to drive. Estimated cost to me for this tank is $50.452 in gas and electricity for 1037 miles or $.0487/mile.

Note: charging at work is free to me. If I was being charged ~$.16/kwh and assuming an average 3.2kwh per day it would cost an additional $10.752 per month...assuming a 21 day work month. For this tank it's approximately a $7.68 subsidy (15 days) making true cost of tank approximately $58.132 or $.0561/mile.

MPG for my 8 tanks prior to upgrade averaged 59.25 mpg. So 1037 miles at 59.25 mpg gives ~17.5 gals. At $3.959/gal (price as of this fill-up) it would have cost $69.28 to run gas only. Not a super-duper savings money wise, but a 56% reduction in oil usage. My target reduction is 60% or better, so I didn't quite make it this tank.

 

Yer welcome.

A partial update on my second tank.
My first tank averaged 134.6 mpg which comes to .743 gal/100 miles over a distance of 1037 total miles.

Current tank:
Gas used: 3.82 gallons of gas per Scangauge (8/7/12 thru 8/28/12)
Miles traveled per MFD: 753
That makes 197.1 mpg or .507 gal/100 miles
For the past two work weeks I've been doing my morning commute using OOG mode. Yesterday was rainy and I wound up having to pull over and restart the car because my pack ran out.

It turns out that when I had run the AC the day prior and set the temp at 75F I forgot to reset the temp back down to Max Cool after I turned the AC off. This means that I was actually running the electric heater for almost the entire morning commute, so it's no wonder I ran the pack down. Live and learn...

I have good hopes for a 1500+ mile tank and well over 200 mpg.

 

I'm still waiting on my 10KW Prius III kit that I ordered from PIS at the end of May...

It's really worrying when you're dealing with so much money; a little communication would go a long way here.

Notifying users beforehand that it will take 90 days, keeping them updated on order status, etc.

 

Have you communicated with Robb? I have read in this thread that Robb is quick to reply to any emails he receives and is very helpfull.

 

Yes, I'm trying not to be a pest. He usually takes at least several days to reply, but he's always courteous (if a bit terse).

I have asked repeatedly for an ETA, however, and haven't gotten one. Last time he simply asked me to confirm my shipping address (almost a month ago). I confirmed it, and received no reply.

I'm sure he's really busy, but I just want to know that it's coming.

This thread has made me feel better about it...

 

I expect that you would receive the battery cells first as they should be posted directly to you from China. This is where the bulk of the money is spent. You should feel a lot better once you receive the cells.