2006 iTech, let the mods / upgrading commence

It should be ok with the cell modules, as I had the same ones in the last system with a lexan lid and there were no issues there.

I sure wish they would fix the errors.
I have emailed the board operators with no response. Seems they don't care.

Jason.

 

So, did a little bit of other upgrades tonight.

Added led lights to the door courtesy lamps
And number plate lights.

The before and after pics are attached for the doors. Didn't take pictures of the number plate lights.

 

With much thanks to John, we got a lot more done today.

Didn't manage to finish the job though.
Ran into a few problems. The vendor that I brought the batteries off, sent some wrong size interconnects. So I can't hook the entire pack up.

Got about 3/4 done though.




I have emailed asking about getting the right size ones, but it will likely be a few weeks before I can get them, as he's on the other side of the country. About as far away from me as you can get, and still be in Australia in fact.

I'll post updates as and when they happen.

Jason.

 

I have got a tracking number now for the required cell interconnects and hopefully in 10 days or so they arrive and we can get the install completed.

Today I went and picked up some carpet to cover the batteries for everyday use.


I'll need to get some adhesive Velcro to keep it in place. I'm happy with how it looks. It's close to factory in colour. Close enough for me anyway.

Jason.

 

The cells are in the box so tightly that they can't move. In fact it was a real struggle to get them to fit in.
There is no way they can move at all. Even in a roll over accident, they won't move.
It's very much a compression fitment.

The box is bolted into the floor of the car, and the 6mm polycarbonate sheet will be bolted to the top of the box with 16 6mm bolts. The cells are such a tight fit, that there is no room for them to expand when being charged of discharged either.

i don't think they need anymore in terms of securing them.

Jason.

 

You mean like this one ?



Not exactly a Toyota one, but I like the way this one blends in.

Jason.

 

So, with huge thanks to John I finally have a PHEV Prius once again.

It's a longish story.

Had planned to get the car completed Easter Saturday. Finished wiring all the cells up, soldered the cell modules up and finished the hook up of the BMS.

Plugged it in and started charging.
All was going well with 5.2A charge rate.

Put around 2kwh into the pack and decided to go for a short test drive. That's when it went south.

I had a 200A HRC fuse on the main Lithium pack between the pack and the contactor box. As soon as the contactors closed, that fuse blew.

So took the car back and started trying to find a problem. Tested all of the HV wiring and didn't find a problem.

By this stage it was starting to get dark so decided to call it a day and get back to it later.

Easter Monday and we're back at it trying to find a problem on the HV side. Triple checked all the wiring. Didn't find a single thing wrong. No shorts, no reverse polarity and no continuity to the car chassis.

So removed the external bms to see if that was causing the issue. Put in the only spare fuse of the right type we had to hand (100A HRC) and decided to try another test drive.

Figured the worst that could happen was another blown fuse.

It didn't blow. The car drove great in both mixed and ev modes. Go figure. A 200A fuse blows. A 100A one does not.

So back home, hooked up the external bms again as a test to see if that made the fuse blow. It didn't.

So we don't really know why the first fuse blew. Have driven around 10km so far in ev mode. No problems to report.

I guess it's possible I got a bad fuse the first time.

Here are some pics.

I'll post more later once I've driven it a while.

Battery is charging as I type this.
I plan to drive to work and back tomorrow in ev mode. 38km round trip.



Jason.

 

First full charge with a top balance just completed. Took around 5.5 hours. The last few hours the charger was putting in less than an amp so it took a long time to top balance.

Took 4.85 kWh from the wall.
It's a 9.72kwh pack so it was likely around 50% soc before this initial charge.

I'll post results from tomorrow's drive to work and back.

Jason.

 

So. First 38km work commute is now completed in ev mode. No issues.

i won't know exactly how many kWh I have used till I do a full charge probably tomorrow night.

I have to let the BMS have a LVC event so it calibrates that point as my zero.

Once that is done, I'll be able to post meaningful numbers and pictures.

The PHEV Prius lives again.

Jason.

 

Have had some small issues with the BMS but this now looks to be sorted.

I did another work commute today and used 5.645 kWh from the wall for 35km.
So far the car has been rock solid reliable.

 

Did some work in the garage this afternoon.

I have setup some remote monitoring and control of the car charger.
I used a Belkin wemo insight smart switch that will allow me to remotely monitor and control the charger. Had to get a wifi repeater for the garage to get the wifi signal down there.

Test will come tomorrow night after I get home from work.



The wemo insight can send me an automated message when the charging has completed, and I can then turn the socket off without having to go outside to the garage. This will avoid unnecessary power consumption through the fans running all night after charging has finished.


In a week or so, I plan to have the fans also controlled by the BMS, until I get the done, I can use the smart switch.


Jason.

 

So far I dont think the pack has been warmer than about 30°c.

It's not appreciably warmer than the stock HV battery after an 18km drive.

I have a small amount of active cooling when
Charging. I have 2 fans in the charger and a third that drags air across the pack when charging. But no active cooling when driving.

Haven't done a load of ev kilometres as yet, but so far there's been no issues.

There is a temp sensor that I plan to move to the battery box that goes to the bms so it can monitor temperature when charging / discharging. Just haven't dont that as yet.

Jason.

 

Looks like the teething problems from the bms are now sorted.

Did a 42km drive today work trip plus a short side trip and used 28.5ah and 71% of the battery. Gives me a theoretical range of 59km. I'm happy enough with that.

 

Another week of ev commuting done.

This is the average battery I have left after each days commute. (37km.)



I have the EV grin once again.

Jason.

 

356 km done so far in ev mode.
Average is 14.31 kWh per 100km.

Jason.

 

Painted the underside of the polycarbonate battery box cover today. The black areas will hide the gaps around the battery box and some of the wiring, but still allow the cells and modules to be visible after lifting the carpet.



I'll post another pic once it's back on the box.

Jason.

 

Some pics of the cover back on.



The painted parts look ok to me. Main thing is it hides the gaps between the box and the car.

Did a long distance drive today.
172km all highway at 100+ kmh.
Averaged 2.5L per 100km in hybrid mode.

Happy with those numbers.
Car is charging now. I'll report the energy consumed when it's completed.

Another week of ev commuting done also.
Averaged 18.07kwh per 100km for the week commuting.

Looks like the battery is actually higher capacity than the rated 40ah too.

I will have to alter the bms settings and see what the true capacity is. I will also report that when I know what it is.

Jason.