Lithium Ion battery on Two Eco

Now you're testing me - I don't remember it as a CROWN or CRESSIDA, as Australia had had them earlier. Though, the square front looked a bit like the 95-99 photo, so could have been, but I suspect older than that, a bit squarer too maybe.

 

Yeah, could have been a Cressida, which, in the home market might have had a different name, and still badged that way in FIJI - we had a few come here as grey imports I think were called Mark 2 or something?
I think older than either of those photos. We had some of the Avalons at work - weren't bad cars actually, and they were cheap, probably because they were older stock. They were popular as TAXIs here too prior to PRIUS & Camry hybrid taking over.

 

Apart from the weight advantage, the only advantage I've seen in Li-ion batteries over Ni-Mh is in power tools etc. Charge a Ni-Mh battery in a power tool or camcorder and leave it for a couple of months and it goes flat, a Li-ion holds its charge for a lot longer.
In a constant charge-discharge cycle of between 20% and 80% charge, as in the Prius, there's not much difference between the two.

 

Based on manual, ZVW50 model has NiMh battery of 1.3KWh capacity and ZVW51 has LiI one with 0.7KWh.
However the usable capacity of both are about the same ~ 0.5KWH.

 

Wasn't there a white paper saying the models with lithium ion won't start below a certain (albeit very low) ambient temperature?

 

I notice a lot of advantages, having both 2015 and a 2017 Li cars: 1. Li charges and discharges fully readily, 2015 NmHi hardly ever does that. 2. Li runs while car is on freeway and engine shuts off. 3. It seems a lot more nimble on battery alone. It runs to my gym and almost makes it back to my house, 2015 does not even make it there. 4. Car does seem lighter, but there are a lot of other components. The Li in my tools pack a lot more power in much less weight. Li is lightest metal, and 3ed lightest element, if you consider that hydrogen is metal only in the most extreme conditions on earth. So, yea, Li is a lot, lot, better.

 

Not sure, but I don't think you can assume that's due to the different chemistry, as much as different programming. I'd suspect the 4th level Two (US) with Nimh battery behaves similarly.

 

Don't they get exported to other RHD counties, like New Zealand?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

yes, and Pacific Islands - FIJI, when I was there 15 years ago, 90% of the cars were ex-Japanese grey imports.

 

You're comparing 2 different generations of PRIUS.

The Petrol engine is different in Gen4 (28% more efficient, I believe the most thermally efficient engine made).

The Gen3 and Gen4 NiMH batteries, and their whole Hybrid Synergy system, MG1 & MG2 design, new close-coupled inverter etc were very different. Efficiency improvements claimed include - hybrid system management contributes about 26%; the new electric motor, 16%; new transaxle and PCU, 13% each; and new battery packs, 4%.

Incidentally, the highest (best) "rated" fuel economy is with a NiMH - despite the battery being heavier.

They don't even look slightly alike under the bonnet:


Additionally, your Gen4 is more aerodynamic with other efficiencies over a Gen3.

 

I had a Li-Ion HV battery in the Prius+ and it charged and discharged in exactly the same way as the NiMH in the Gen 3 I had before it.

 

That's possible. Using at normal charge and discharge rates Li-ion when the cells are below freezing will result result in permanent damage. That's why most plug ins with it have some type of basic heating for the battery. Others charge at a really slow rate until the pack temp comes up.

 

For what it’s worth
The overseas Prius v look alike gets lithium battery

 

Agreed...but I was talking about the Gen4.

That orig post by me goes back to 2016 so it now seems Li batt costs have come way down witness Prime, although in the case of Prime we need consider that Toyota gets CARB credits, whereas use of Li vs. Ni in a HEV hybrid would have to pay off on it's own two feet.

 

Li-ion was already cheaper than NiMH. Toyota just has the habit of squeezing every last cent out of their investments. Just a few years ago, you could still get a base Corolla with a 4 speed automatic transmission for instance.

 

Could be, but it could also be marketing whereas Americans like to move on to new technology ASAP.