Gen3 Enginer 8kWh Kit First full tank..

thx for the great report. The second converter provides a significant boost to the overall MPG.

What is the SoC your 8kW pack after the 70 miles trip?

 

I'll PM you and we can talk about ideas.

 

Hi Chan,
Yes, I agree with your concept that the Enginer kit is not an Electric Car but rather the Enginer kit is recharging the Prius HV Battery as you go.

However, You comment

is not correct. The converter drops the 10amp current down as the Prius HV batteries approach their 80% upper limit. If you have not changed the factory settings on the converter, it will not push current into the Prius HV Battery when the Prius does not need it.

Thanks,
Dan

 

.
Wow!!
You have a very low averaged MPH.

 

What is the no load output voltage for each of your converters?

For a 2 converter system I would recomend about 235v on one and about 242 on the other. I have one converter set at 241v and I drop to about 6-7amps at 7 bars and to about 3 amps at 8 bars. I did have the ICE spin when it was at 248v but I have never had the ICE spin to waist energy at 241v.

The theory is simple, E=IR. As the voltage of the Prius HV battery comes up to the converter output voltage then the DeltaV goes to Zero and so the current drops. The converter has some resistance as does the Prius system so that the drop in current is not all at once.

Hope this helps,
Dan

 

Chan,

The reason why I asked you the end SOC is because you have your CellLog. From that data you can a good feel of the SOC.

I'm going with a 4kWh system and hope it can handle my 30 miles commute and sustain no less than 50% SOC.

Thanx,
Jonathan

 

Hi Johnathan,
Of course Chan will give you his opinion about capacity based on his experience with his 8kwhr kit.

However for best information on a 4kwhr capacity I would suggest that you may want to check with those that are running 4kwhr systems.

In the thread
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...-vehicle-install-in-portland-area-gen2-6.html
Go down to the post done on January 18th. The attachment shows usage of a 4kwhr system over about 15 days. This would give you good information.

My guess is that 30 miles per day will use around 75% of the capacity of the 4kwhr system.
Thanks,
Dan

 

This is pretty typical I'd say, assuming he is using the standard calculation of total mileage vs. total time elapsed. The average for all vehicle travel in the US (3 Trillion miles/yr) is something like 33mph. You really don't realize what a huge impact stop signs, stop lights, traffic, etc have on your average speed until you start keeping close track. My commute is mostly freeway at 60mph, and yet I usually only average ~30mph by the time I get the mile or so to/from the freeway and to/from work/home.

 

Hi guys, my name is Sam. Sam i am. started with 04 prius, traded that in for what i have now - 08. been researching the different expansion packs for possible install. have read thru ALL the past threads on the Enginer packs. i understand that the Enginer converter will limit the amps. i understand that tapping the extra power in so that the OEM ECU does not see the extra pack requires the OEM ECU to be forced to do a SOC recalibration (SOC Drift) of OEM traction battery after the Enginer pack has brought traction battery up to a specific voltage. Just like to check how accurate i am on couple of specifics from what i got from past threads.

1st, is it accurate to say that when Enginer converter senses that the traction battery has reached 230v, is this the point the converter is supposed to kick over to different output to go from the limit of 10amp max down to 0amp until traction battery reaches 240 or 241volts?

2nd, i am taking it that at the point of the traction battery being 240 or 241volts is where the SOC drift will occur. am i correct to say that the SOC level at 240 / 241 is approx. 73 / 74%, being that this is supposed to be the approx. % that pushes the HSD to right at the 8 bar level and utilising EV mode only up to 34mph?

3rd, when the Enginer converter senses voltage drop of traction battery <230v, is it at this point that converter kicks over to a different output allowing full amp draw to traction battery (in this case with 8Kw is 20amps). let's say you have more power available (up to 40amps), should you allow a full 40amps to come in at <230v? or wait until traction battery falls to about 190-195v to slam in 40+ amps?

 

I don't think the converter senses anything. It has a set voltage output and it just pumps that out period. As the voltage of the OEM pack nears the voltage output of the converter it slows down (less voltage differential means less amps). Thats all there is to it.

 

Hi Sam,
Yes, I believe you are pretty close on understanding the concept. I do see SOC recal's at various times. I saw in one thread that a recal will be done a 242v. I believe this is true, But I have seen it at other states of charge also. I have measured the Prius HV battery and discovered that it is all over the place. I am confident that even a 50% SOC with hard regen from braking it can go above 242v and trigger a recal.

The Enginer spec for the converter output is 240v+/-5v at no load. Mine is set at 241v at no load. I have not checked it with current flowing because that level of voltage is dangerous an I am not well enough trained in high voltages to be manipulating a DVM and a Current meter while the changing the SOC.

EV mode can be engaged anywhere above 3 bars. Maximum electric motor boost at higher speeds seem to come at the 6-7bar level.

The Enginer system does not sense anything in the Prius except the voltage level of the Prius HV battery. The Enginer converter is designed to give 10amps and run at the Prius HV battery voltage level. As that voltage gets higher, the current goes to lower levels. This is just like older stile battery chargers. I do expect this is happening between 230v and 240v. I have seen my converter run at 10 amps with 6 bars, 6-7amps at 7 bars, and 3amps just before going to 8 bars and dropping to 0amps just after going to 8 bars. But with the Prius HV battery going drastically up and down all the time this current is also going up and down constantly when the Prius HV battery is at higher SOC conditions.

In this case you get 10amps per converter. The size of the Enginer Battery pack does not matter. I have one converter and Chan has 2 converters, so a maximum of 10amps per converter.

Remember that the current going into the converter is close to 6 times the output current. I do not recommend more than 2 converters because of the very high input currents.
You can set the 2 converters to come in a different levels. and that is what I would generally recommend.

Thanks,
Dan

 

Hi Chan,
I would think you would want to Quad Buddy the cells but use the 2 breakers in parallel with one converter on each breaker. Then set the low voltage cutoff on one converter a little high so that when the batteries get low one converter shuts off and you are splitting the current going to the converter that keeps running between all 4 cells. This would be the lowest stress on the cells.

Just my thoughts.

Thanks,
Dan Lander