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Has anyone tried replacing the 12 volt battery with a LiFePO4 12.8 V battery?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Technical Discussion' started by GoodOldBob, Dec 1, 2023.

  1. RandyPete

    RandyPete Member

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    What I am trying to say is that "12.2 volts" is not a battery SOC. It is a bettery voltage.
     
  2. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    So basically your nit pickin my use of SOC. You wanna be the first to take a set of Amp reading while 12 volt charging is happening by the Gen 4 and or 5 Prii, so we all can hone in the real 12 volt battery SOC, and I'll promise to never use SOC in a description of only the voltage reading again. Great job.
     
    #22 vvillovv, Mar 24, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2024
  3. sylvaing

    sylvaing Senior Member

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    The 13.5 volt is pretty consistent, yes. As can be seen here when the battery was warming up

    Screenshot_20240324-200804.png
    And when preheating (or A/C) was turned on (that 13.5V before the drive was 10 minutes long)
    Screenshot_20240324-200734.png

    But when charging, the voltage does fluctuate, as can be seen below. It fluctuates around 12.8V.

    Screenshot_20240324-200646.png
     
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  4. GoodOldBob

    GoodOldBob Junior Member

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    An interesting article on Battery University website looks at Lithium Ion batteries. Noting that the duty cycle of 100% charge/discharge is only 300 cycles. Yet, a Prius manages to last 10 years....how do they do it? Seems that if you only partially charge and discharge the Traction Battery, the lifespan is greatly prolonged: up to 18,000 cycles if you only charge to 65% and discharge to 55%....which is why Toyota can confidently warranty a 10 year lifespan on the Traction battery.
     
  5. sylvaing

    sylvaing Senior Member

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    It's probably like the Prime. The 100% of the traction battery for EV is actually from 15% to 85% of the traction battery. At 8.8kWh, that's 6.1kWh. Below 15% is reserved for the hybrid mode. Above 85% isn't used to, like you said, prevent battery degradation.
     
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  6. GoodOldBob

    GoodOldBob Junior Member

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    Even Android cell phones have caught on:

    upload_2024-6-11_20-5-25.png
     
  7. 2010-Prius

    2010-Prius New Member

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    The voltage is important. LiFePo4 battries won't hit 100% charge and will begin to suffer sulfation unless they hit something like 14.8v during charging.

    The guy who mentioned charging system voltage dropped great information. That means that adding any kind of lithium, even with a battery isolator, isn't going to work.

    I almost installed that solution with a standard isolator. I see now that I'm going to need a different solution such as a DC to DC charger added between the regular supply of current, and the isolated lithium battery pack (I'm going to be powering an inverter) however this all definitely answers the question of if you can put a lithium batter into your prius as a starting battery.

    Nope, you can't use a lithium starting battery. You'll mess it up and waste your investment.

    You also definitely can't do it with LiFePo4, because those will take damage during every start since they're made for slow cycling, not fast discharge like lead acid.

    AGM is ok in a Prius. Every time I buy a new 12v starter, that's exactly what comes up in retail matching systems like at Autozone. AGM isn't a true deep cycle battery, it's more or less a non-spillable improved version of lead acid that handles deep cycling better, but not as well as an actual deep cycle battery made for deep cycle applications like solar, running inverters, etc.
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Where will the sulfur come from?
     
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  9. MAX2

    MAX2 Member

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    Damn diabolical question))(y)
     
  10. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    I can confirm this!
    upload_2024-8-16_4-44-59.png
    https://youtube.com/shorts/iI9Zvs1xlYU
     
  11. sylvaing

    sylvaing Senior Member

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  12. sylvaing

    sylvaing Senior Member

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    How does it handle below freezing charging? Lithium batteries hate it when they are charged below freezing temperatures.
     
  13. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    I have realized, the main reason advances in the new and exciting have been limited in the Prius platform, its because most are so worried about the what-ifs. Personally, living in Southern California, I don't have any concerns about below-freezing charging and if I did a battery warmer would be used. Simple. |

    Can't wait to show you all what I've done... just know that 87% of the things people say is the truth about the Prius, like Lithium wont work... or my favorite, when they tell me I didn't observe a significant rise in the rate in which the EV battery charges in my PHEV after installing upgraded aftermarket brake parts.... is wrong! next they will tell me the max bore size on the 1.8L which I found out through having a fresh block analyzed cant be used with the stock ECU... hahahahaha
     
  14. sylvaing

    sylvaing Senior Member

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    Well it's not so simple as the battery has to be warmed up before the charge can happen, so the BMS must account for that. It's possible, but needs to be taken into consideration.
     
  15. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    That's the thing. For me, it's simple. I already planned for that and added code to the .ino file I wrote for an ESP32 device, which would trigger the relay to turn on the heating pad and monitor the temps independently of the rest of the system. Those lil boards can be run on 3.7-7V of power easily.

    Thats why I guess I don't understand the thought in the worry about cold temps... Id just make something to overcome that obstacle and its over. These Silicone rubber heating pads are pretty cool if you ask me!

    upload_2024-8-16_15-12-53.png
     
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  16. sylvaing

    sylvaing Senior Member

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    It was not meant to be a worry, but to plan for it.
     
  17. RandyPete

    RandyPete Member

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    There are so many errors in the facts presented in this post that I choose to not even address the grossly incorrect statements made here. If you do not see at least one untruth, you know nothing about LiFePO4 batteries.
     
  18. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

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    I'll say this... after going through 3-5 isolators, they are not what will work in a Prius that's for sure!

    https://black.jmyntrn.com/2023/06/03/upgraded-my-prius-12v-battery-system-with-a-second-12v-battery-from-a-smart-battery-isolator-to-a-victron-cyrix-ct-12-24v-120a-to-use-with-my-battery-monitor-smart-shunt/?utm_source=PriusChat&utm_medium=weblinkt&utm_campaign=commentlinkAugust
    upload_2024-8-20_12-20-31.png













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