Enginer PHEV Test Pilots: Mpg reports and important data

I can tell by your screen that your trip was at least 30 minutes long. What is missing is the average speed. How long was your drive? What would be your MPG on the same route without the kit turned on. Can you do a baseline for the 40 mile trip without the juice on?

 

Wow! That's cool alright! :nod: Congrats.

 

Way to go Jo!

 

I have the box installed and am waiting on my remaining 2kwh of batteries and 4 balancers to arrive. This weekend I will be up and running with 4kwh.

 

Jack replaced my converter yesterday pm and I'm good to go! Unit is 2kwh kit.

For all trips, I use P&G whenever safe/possible. I do not claim to be the best hypermiler around...still learning. Vehicle purchased 4/17/09 (used 2004 w/48500 miles on ODO. Mileage at last fill-up on 8/25 was 54049).

Trip home from his shop using unit (no baseline): 61.9 mpg per MFD
19 miles - mixed rush-hour hwy/city. First 4 miles of that was stop and go < 10 mph. The next 12 miles were hwy at mostly 65 mph. Last leg was mixed 45 down to 30 mph based on PSL.
Initial SOC was 6 bars, went all-green twice during the trip. Ending SOC was 6 bars. OAT low 70s F.
Comment: was expecting SOC to remain all-green once it was achieved and to stay that way until pack depleted...did not occur that way. Unit appeared to have some charge left on arrival at home.

During recharge, temps were not nearly as hot as I reported in an earlier post...OAT much lower. This time, I left the floor mat and cargo cover open from the start, plus I prop'd the lid open with some 1" wood blocks. Charging was complete in under 2 hrs. Right balancer appeared normal (working) at this time, but the left balancer indicated one cell w/high voltage. Highest reading on left balancer was 3.784 when I checked it, and it was beeping at the time. It was no longer beeping 4 hrs later when I went to bed (did not take any readings).

AM commute 8/28/09: 62.7 mpg, road condition - wet (post rain), OAT 57-63 F
18.8 miles secondary and city roads.
First 3/4 mile PSL is 30mph with three stop signs.
Next 13 miles are at 45mph, warm-up is complete after about 4-5 miles of this.
Final leg is 30 mph.
Unit was turned on after backing out of driveway and left on until arrival at work.
SOC at beginning of run: 6 bars. SOC at end of run: 6 bars. Did not get green bars at any time during the run. Did not drop below 5 bars.

I checked the balancers about an hour after arrival at work.
Left balancer:
High cell: 3.334
Difference b/t low and high: .020
Voltage: 26.59

Right balancer:
High cell: 3.327
Difference b/t low and high: 036
Voltage: 26.41

Baseline commute for above: OAT 66-68 w/intermittent rain - 60.7 mpg per MFD.
note: unit was turned on for this run, but failed sometime during the first 3-5 mins. I wasn't watching the LED closely, but noticed it was off (converter failed) early in the drive. SOC at start of run: 6 bars. SOC at end of run: 4 bars.

Baseline commute for above (dry roads): OAT 55-63, - 62.5 mpg per MFD.
SOC at beginning of run: 6 bars. SOC at end of run: 5 bars. Near the end of the commute it drops to 4 bars, but regen usually brings it up to 5 during final 3-5 blocks. If I don't watch the MFD closely I get excess battery usage (EV) during the last 3-4 miles during P&G.

I will post info on my home leg later. I take a different route that uses 11 miles of hwy driving.

 

What do you mean by "converter failed"? Are you saying that the battery voltage dropped to a point where the system shut down or are you saying that your new replacement converter has also failed?

 

OK, to be more specific...

The original converter that came with the kit never did work. On Tuesday, Jack replaced it with a spare he had. That seemed to work ok for the trip home, however, when I recharged that evening the temperatures in the kit (based on touch...I don't have a temp gauge) were VERY hot. Wednesday, when I started my commute the LED came on when I switched the unit on, but it went off within 3-5 minutes. I made the assumption that the replacement converter had gone bad (failed) and when the LED shut off. Jack replaced the converter a second time yesterday and so far (knock on wood) it seems to be working.

[edit]When I recharged last night the unit did not get anywhere near as hot as it did the previous time... However, last night was much cooler than it was on Tuesday night.[/edit]

 

Thanks for clarifying. I'll cross my fingers for you. Good luck with this one.

 

There was no green OR red LED showing. The unit was DEAD.

More importantly, the replacement converter Jack installed DOES seem to be working now.

 

Follow-up to post #46.

Commute Home information:
Distance this trip: 18 miles, roads dry during this and baseline trip.
MPG per MFD: 65.2
OAT: 68-75 F (68-70F at start and end, 73-75F on hwy)
SOC at start of trip: 6 bars
SOC at end of trip: 4 bars

First 1 1/2 miles of trip is city streets. Warm-up occurs during this and about 2 miles of hwy driving. Total hwy mileage: 10-11 miles. I forgot to record the mpg at the end of this leg, but if memory serves, it was around 55 mpg.

The next part of the trip home is about 5 miles of 45 mph PSL. During most of this, the instantaneous mpg read 90-99.9 during glide and usually in the 50s during my pulse (occasional drops to 20s for a second or two). P&G range is 42-49 mph. Mostly flat, with two moderate 'dips' and one bridge to climb over. Lights are timed VERY well. After first stop I usually make the rest of the trip without stopping at a light again.

Final leg of the trip is 1 1/2 miles 30 mph on city streets, one stop sign.

Baseline commute home:
OAT: 75-84 F (it IS summer you know!)
MPG per MFD: 57.5
SOC at start: 5 bars
SOC at end: 6 bars

 

For all the test pilots.
The MFD readings is very inapropiate for this application
In order to provide a more accurate readings and to control better the vehicle in order to maximize FE, all of you should be using an SCANGAUGE connected to the OBD2 port at least.
This instrument is available at many online retailers and in the PriusChat Shop.

 

Can you elaborate? Why is the mfd inaccurate and how does having a scan gauge help to maximize FE?

Thanks

 

I disagree. In my experience (over 100k miles with a scangauge), the Scangauge cannot handle deal with stealth. It ALWAYS registers fuel usage (albeit very small), when in EV/stealth. Furthermore, I have two Scanguages running simultaneously, with the same fuel and distance settings. Not once have they shown the same fuel useage when I fill the tank. On the other hand, the MFD is very precise. Every tank it shows about 2% higher MPG than calculated with the pump. I will be reporting my results using the MFD, with a 2% downward MPG adjustment.

P.S. This is just my experience. If others have had better accuracy with the scangauge during stealth, please tell me how to adjust my scangauge to not record fuel useage when the ICE is off.

 

I agree that SG is only accurate over large samples. It has some bugs. I'll take a stab. SGII has a FW bug in 3.15 (and beyond I think) that registers a non-zero GPH when in stealth, but I think the "gallons" trip counter is free of this bug. So you can't around the GPH bug by simply looking at gallons consumed.

PS if you set your cost/gal to $10 you can get your gallons consumed (down to 1/100th) by looking at your "cost" counter.

11011011

 

I never stated that ScanGauge it is inacurate, I only indicated that it is inapropiate for this application.
I do not own an Scangauge, I have CAN-View, a little more complex instrument and tripple the price; I pointed out SC because of the features against how deep you have to digg in your pocket. The Enginer users choose this equipment because of the price not the features. Better PHEV equipment cost sustantialy more.
-Some other important mesurament are engine temperature and ICE rpm. In a daily basis I drive my PHEV by instruments and I'm able and by personal experience, to sustain up to 52MPH in stealth mode under 1075 RPMs with out a single drop of gasoline, maximizing FE.
-Total Amps draw, if you keep it under -60A, in EV mode, the ICE will not start, maximixing FE
-Also, it can be implemented a thermosthat hack in the vehicle in order to be above 175F at start-up, fooling the Hybrid ECU and taking off from "0" in electric mode with a cold engine, maximizing FE.
-Total pack voltage.......
ScangaugeII "Xgauge" can give you this readings also besides the MPG thingy you pointed out. It can clear the dreadded DTCs that will happen
I think it also can give you a cumulative trip odometer while in EV but not sure if the software was updated since the last time I spoke with the manufacturer.....

 

Morning commute 08/31/09: (see post #46 for distance/mix info)
MPG per MFD: 65.2
Road conditions: dry
OAT: 50-52

Left balancer readings:
High cell: 3.319
Dif b/t High/Low: .014
Voltage: 26.46

Right balancer:
High cell: 3.312
Dif b/t High/Low: .098
Voltage: 26.24

Comments: much cooler this morning than previously, so engine warm-up wasn't complete for 6-7 miles instead of 4-5 miles. In spite of this, I got a higher mpg than my previous morning commute. That commute, however, was over wet roads instead of dry. I'm hoping for even better results after the battery break-in cycles are complete.

I'm adjusting my P&G technique somewhat for use with this kit. Instead of trying to get the black arrows during every glide, I'm letting the battery do some work to extend the glide time every second or third P&G cycle. That way I'm actually using some of that juice I pumped into the Enginer pack. Then when I'm doing the black arrow glides, the Enginer pack is recharging the Prius pack. During pulse, I try to avoid allowing the ICE to recharge the Prius battery.