3KW EV Conversion - Plug In Supply

To all who are following this, I highly recommend reading the Plug in Supply DIY post in the Gen II forum (in its entirity). My experience with them was terrible but one person has reported a positive experience. I would advise reading all you can (positive and negative) b4 making your decision. I cannot recommend this company to anyone due to my experience with it. I'm betting Jeremy will not get his batteries next week but, maybe I'll be proven wrong.

 

I would be a buyer at <= 3k should a proven kit become available.

 

Jeremy,

You should not need to pull the EFI fuse at all. The purpose of the controller PIS make is to encourage the car to run in EV mode as much as possible without setting any error codes. It's unclear exactly how it achieves this, but we know it broadcasts "something" onto the canbus network to increase battery usage and decrease engine usage. 72mph full EV mode is probably an unrealistic expectation (especially from 15ah cells), but certainly running at low speed will be almost all EV, and once you've used the gas engine to get up to high speed you will be able to cruise in EV. Gas use won't be zero, but it will be greatly reduced.

 

I haven't heard of one person with any PIS kit that has been able to achieve above 52mph in full EV. The Prius HSD limits max EV speed to 52 but PIS claims 70+mph. Supposedly there is an updated hardware that is available to allow for this. It was supposedly designed by Kietty and has been tested. I have read (on this forum) that PIS customers have been told they will receive the updated hardware in the future but none have reported receiving it. It is my opinion that the hardware allowing this doesn't exist. If it does, I would think there would be several people wanting to brag about it and posting here or other eco modding sites.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. I'll stand by the old adage of Ronald Reagan "trust but verify".
I really don't want to see anyone else taken advantage of and lied to by PIS.

 

Jeremy,

I believe I'm the one usnavystgc referred to regarding positive experience with PIS. Since you seem to have already jumped in for the kit, I'm not about to try to discourage you...just caution against too high expectations. Please read my GENII 4kwh (pretty much the same kit you've ordered) install thread: PIS 4kwh PHEV kit assembly and installation odyssey | PriusChat You'll want to especially read the battery build posts since you'll be getting into that shortly.

I'm just about to finish my second tank (in the next week or so) after putting the kit into service in early July. On my first tank, I got ~135 mpg. I consider this somewhat low for what it is capable of, but that's because I ran out of charge and had to drive a couple somewhat extended trips in HV mode instead of EV. If I had the cash, I would have gotten the 10kwh pack instead and been much better off. Unfortunately, like you, $$$ rules and I got what I could afford.

Some things to be aware of:

• with a 4kwh pack you are NOT going to be doing any extended driving in EV at highway speeds. I have been able to travel 8-10 miles using a combination of gas and battery (get well over 100 mpg doing it), but anything less than a 10kwh pack will not get you highway speeds using pure EV for more than a few miles.
• I can truthfully say I have driven up to 47 mph, all electric (in OOG mode). The roads here are fairly flat and that is an important factor! BTW, the fuse only needs to be pulled out for a short time, then reinserted. The beeping and squealing will stop when you put it back in. I use a ScangaugeII to clear the codes.
• If you try to accelerate too fast, the pack voltage will drop VERY quickly and the kit will eventually shut itself off. The pack isn't depleted, but needs to 'rest' for a bit to recover from the abuse.
• My daily commute consists of just over 17 miles, with ~4.5 miles @45mph and the rest around 35mph. When I arrive at work (or back home) and charge, I put in between 3.2 and 3.7 kwh according to my Kill-O-Watt meter.

I've been driving almost all of my current tank in OOG mode (manually pull/reinsert the fuse--I haven't been able to get my remote switch to work) and here are my stats as of this morning...remember that 90% of these miles are daily commute per above.
Last fill-up: 8/7/2012
Distance traveled so far: 1847 miles
Gas used (per Scangauge): 8.05 gallons
Average mpg: ~230 mpg

I have had to make only a few hwy trips this tank with the electric assist instead of all-electric, so my mileage is much better. In a year or so, I may have enough $$$ to add another 4kwh of battery, and be able to drive more on the highway.

Good luck.

 

there's a guy in the pip forum who claimed he was going to install the first pis for pip right after 09/24. we're all hoping he pulls it off, no word yet.

 

That is the exact same excuse I was given by PIS when my batteries didn't show up for a long time. "Oh, China is on holiday". I predict many more timeline promises will be made by PIS and not met. I predict you will be told "you'll get it next week" and next week will come with no shipments. If this is okay by you then, no problem. I just personally doing like doing business that way.

Here's what my email said (just FYI)
Dear Robb,

How ar eyou?

Now we are all in holidays, I will be back to work on 6th, April, I
will send the updated information to you.

BR
Victoria

 

Yeah it is Golden Week in China!

 

Jeremy, everyone wish you best of luck with your project, but you don't need to be so offensive if people have different opinion (read bad experience) about some companies and they want to share it with the others. If you want to have this thread as a one man show, then go for it and ignore everyone who you don't want to hear from in your thread. I can even tell you how to do it. Click on the profile picture and then when the new window will appear click ignore.

 

What the heck is a grip?

 

Well, sometimes we post b4 we think. I have done it too but I try to avoid it now. I appreciate the change in tone. Good luck with your project. I will bow out of this one and let you do your thing. I was never trying to discourage you. I was only trying to let people know that things aren't always as they seem.

 

thanks jeremy! all the best. fyi, the gentleman with the pip has his installed temporarily and it is working great. giving him about an extra 14 ev miles.