2006 iTech, let the mods / upgrading commence

Hi Jason,

What do you reckon. 403km range. Is it worth it?

 

I am also eyeing the BMW i3 2015/16 for around 40k. It looks pretty cool. It has active cruise control where the car speeds and slows down automatically using radar. It uses a 9 litre tank capacity, 2 cylinder scooter engine as a range extender just to charge the HV battery. The whole concept looks pretty cool. 120km ev only range. 320km range using the range extender. I'm tending to go for this option instead of the Zoe as I don't really do that many long trips and I could just get by on refilling the 9L ULP tank any way.

 

I just found out it only has standard cruise control. Looks like it is the later model that has adaptive cruise control. It is worth paying extra for it.

 

Just found out from dealer that the Zoe does not have adaptive cruise control. Just stanfard. Sounds like they are waiting for the Australian Government to legislate for it. But it does use a camera for emergency braking.

 

You realize our expert @bwilson4web has an i3 with the range extender. He has a thread or 2 describing his experiences and testing.

Here is one thread. Why the BMW i3-REx | PriusChat

 

Hi Jason,
I am interested in the Prius. Can please PM me. I can't pm people yet as I haven't posted enough!

 

I'm the proud new owner of this great vehicle, I've put roughly 5,000km on it since I took possession and love it.
I'm in the midst of replacing the traction battery at the moment because the original has dropped it's bundle and won't hold a charge.
I'm planning to replace it with a $400 unit from a local auto wreckers(vehicle dismantler) and after removing the covers from both battery packs, the replacement has clean module connection where the original is very corroded and the replacement has an even 7.6v +/- 0.02v across all 28 cells where the original ranges from 6.0v to 7.6v. I'll load test the replacement and check that all cells hold voltage under load and fit it if it passes muster.

T1 Terry

 

Tested the new pack by making an adapter cable so I could plug the battery output into an old ceramic jug with the exposed wound element. The load was around 7.5 amps and all the cells held their voltage well and rebounded to the same voltage after a min when the load was removed, so good enough for me at the moment. I could go down the path of putting the hobby charger on each cell and doing the 3 cycles to get a more accurate reading on its capacity, but I don't want to wait the mth or more it would take me to do all 28 cells, so that isn't going to happen any time soon :lol:

I battled for 3 1/2 hrs to get the charger out because one of the rivetnuts in the mounting plate decided to spin rather than let me remove the bolt. That caused sufficient frustration to decide it wasn't going back there, so all the 240vac cabling and gear has come out as well. I'll make up a J1772 socket/plug so I can plug in the 5 amp mains charger at home or any of the charging station when we travel with an adapter cable to suit. Then I'll look at a faster charger to mount in the Prius, probably a 20 amp or 40 amp so it doesn't take 8 hrs or more to recharge the battery at a shopping centre. I'll need to make up a plug to go from the EV Works BMS to the charger that suits both the 5 amp TC charger and what ever higher rate charger I choose to fit later.
I'm also looking at a 50 amp Anderson plug set up to direct charge from solar, probably around 10 amps @275v to get all the cells up to 3.6v from fully discharged in roughly 4 to 5 hrs.

The original traction battery shows clear signs the electrolyte has been escaping around the terminals on every module and actually splattering onto the metal cover plate, so they have really been coping a hammering by the look of it. I'm now thinking the smell might have been the traction battery and not the PHEV battery. It will also be interesting to see if the traction battery cooling fan settles down as well, it ran flat out when ever the PHEV pack started recharging the traction pack or if we went up a hill.

T1 Terry

 

Hi Jason, can anything be done to this 5 amp charger to up its output? Or am I looking a new charger for the fast charging option?
I thought a bit more last night over a beer or 3 and realised I could mix and match any of the charging options by using the 50 amp Anderson plug that is already part of the system now. Maybe I'll just add the J1772 socket and wire that to a bigger charger as well as a 50 amp Anderson plug near the towbar so I can charge from solar as well ...... and maybe have the 10kWh battery available as a back up power supply if needed.

T1 Terry

 

Well, I've finally sorted the bugs out and very happy with the replacement traction battery. It appears I managed to score a relatively new battery because it was branded Primearth EV Energy Primearth EV Energy - WikiVisually and looking at the article it appears they didn't start supplying Toyota under that name until 2011.
The electric only speed is now better than 86km/h where it would top out at 80km/h before unless it was a down hill run. With the 10kW pack switched off and all the bars green in the touch panel display I can get around 4.5kms @ 80km/h and a bit of hill climbing included. The contactors remain on for a much longer period when charging from the 10kW battery to the traction battery and the current flow is less. Once the contactor clicks out the traction battery seems to hold its voltage for a lot longer now and charges to 75% SOC according to the scan gauge.
The trip from the workshop home and return to the workshop would pull the 10kW battery down to 83% SOC or less before, today it was still 95%.
Al round, very happy with the result, the charger and associated cabling is now set up so it can be removed and only needed in the vehicle when I plan to be some where that I can get a recharge rather than being in the vehicle full time. This allows me to access the contactor box much easier and gives me somewhere to put the jack and wheel brace. I changed the charger fans from parallel to series wired and that quietened them down a lot. I might add a thermostat later so they don't run constantly as they are now powered by the 12v aux battery.

T1 Terry