My friend just recommend me several alternative battery project for update of Enginer system after he saw my conversion. A few recommendation are as follows: 1. Fuel cell: 48V DC with 100ah with 7 year life circle. 2. LiFeCOPO4： 4v DC with 40 ah for each cell. One battery package contain 13 or 14 cells. As instructed by Jack, if the output of battery is ranged from 48v to 54v, the converter will work. So I only need to replace the existing battery package and battery management system. I personally prefer to use fuel cell. If someone can hack the 52mph limit (I saw PICC had hacked this but need to pay 3000-5000 USD), I think the fuel cell can directly drive the Prius. Any new idea add it? Huibin
Fuel cells would be great, but what is the cost ? and what the energy source ? a hydrogen fuel cell would be the ideal with you can make hydrogen at home from your roof mounted panel. I think the cost is the limiting factor. I believe the A123 nano LiFePo may be more within range. But yes, any 48-56v source with sufficient current draw should work.
I have asked my friend to restructure the Enginer system by using pump power supply and new converter (more efficiency compare with DC-DC converter). The battery will be changed to li-on battery with less weight and more power reserve than existing battery. I will focus to update to fuel cell in second stage. The energy source is CH3OH. However, I need to figure out the 52mph hack first as fuel cell is fixed output with 48v@100ah. Yes, the cost of fuel cell is major factor for upgrade. Any idea for 52mph hack? Reprogram the ecu? I am thinking to enter out of gas mode only because the car does not have trouble code and does not try to start the I.C.E.
Since you are doing this as a 'one off' design.... Fuel cells are easy (really easily!) to contaminate. If anywhere in the fueling , tank, or system things get contaminated you get to buy a brand new fuel cell.
48V@100A is only 4.8kw. you don't have an EV there, so just use it for blended driving (exactly as the Enginer kit does). You can expect 70-80mpg until the hydrogen tank is empty, then back to normal economy. only difference would be if you did a lot of low speed urban driving, in which case you can use the stock EV mode.
Let me suggest the water fuel cell when done right 100 mpg +. It's like the fuel fell and acts as a capacitor that in which u will use it as the source of energy. To drive the car
I looked into getting a 48volt 200ah battery pack and was quoted: the battery pack: $4820 BMS: $1200 Charger (58.4V 40A) $300 Outcase (metal ) $80 total $6400 Replacement cells (each cell in Enginer battery pack is made of 4 cells in parallel) were quoted at $30 each. Can anybody suggest a better brand ? - maybe Mottcell.
it may be cheaper to order another pack from enginer; which comes with the BMS & monitor, metal box etc...less than $2K for 4kwh
If you are still going through an enginer DC-DC converter, the fuel cell could not directly drive the prius since you'd still be limited by the wattage of the converter. The Prius can easily consume 23,000 watts during a steady take-off, and can maintain 7,000 watts during cruising. The only way to really provide that kind of power is to eliminate the DC-DC converter and use a battery pack that is rated at the correct voltage to interface directly to the prius HV wires. The reason the Enginer kit does not go that route is because it is much more expensive to have so many battery cells and to try to keep them all balanced.
As I understand it a fuel cell to power the Prius above 52 in pure EV would be too big and many modifications would have to be made, the enginer kit just supplements the standard Prius and a fuel cell sounds like an excellent idea to help and extend the range of the batteries in the kit. You have the benefits of the Enginer system ( no modification to Prius systems ) + much extended range and the ability to recharge when no mains available. I would like to know what 50-56v fuel cell systems are out there, one that runs on butane cans would be great.
