Central Virginia Prius Meetup: 9/29/07 (Confirmed)

I think I will like it.

That looks fine. Thank you for your advice.

It would be a pleasure for me to meet you.
My English would'nt be the best, but I think it should work.

cu then
Fabio

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Sep 29 2007, 08:55 PM) [snapback]519238[/snapback]</div>

Thanks so much, JimboK, Skwyre7 and your wife (sorry, missed your name), and all others who helped organize this meet. It was great fun to meet everyone. I'm sorry we got there so late (David's my fiance) but really glad we were able to catch you before you all departed for the park.

I'll be posting pictures too.

 

Hey everyone!

I had a great time today. It was nice meeting everyone from the forum, and it was especially nice picking Wayne's brain on some hot topics.

I wanted to say thanks to Wayne again for driving all this way and sacrificing his time with his family for us. It means alot to those of us who aren't as mechanically inclined.

Thank you so much, and I hope you make it home safely after the next leg of your trip!

I will try to get the video editing and posted for the EBH install this week.

Jim, looking forward to the pictures. I am especially interested in the caravan shots. It was really neat looking in my rearview mirror and seeing 10 Prii gliding down the road. It was a sight to behold!

Thanks again, sorry I had to depart before the battery presentation.

 

I had an awesome time today. Always good to meet new people and it was an awesome experience to meet people with the same interests. Sorta dented my average mpg a tad coming all the way down there on the highway (where everyone tailgates you at 70mph), but it was worth it.

Uber-thanks to Wayne for installing our block heaters as well as for presenting his "shockingly" informative battery lecture. Also, thanks to Jim and Michael for organizing the event.

Yeah, definately looking forward to the caravan pictures as well as the rest of them
Oh, and those brownies were killer. Give your wife my thanks.

 

I love these Prius meets. It's always nice to share time, stories & knowledge with people who have similar interest(s). The weather was absolutely perfect!

Many thanks to those who helped organize the event. Looking forward to the next meet!

 

Now, I'm back in New Jersey!
My GPS (TomTom) fails this morning and give me only a black Screen. So I had to navigate by my self without a map. But it took me only 20 extra miles. 303 miles instead of 282 miles. I think this is not to bad for one who is the first time in the USA.

Many Thanks for the organisation of this meetup. It was very intressting for me and I had a great pleasure to meet you. Wayne's presentation of the batterypack and tekn0wledg's instruction in driving puls&glide, was a great experience for me.

I have met a lot of nice peoples yesterday. I hope the next time I'm in the USA there is another meetup in VA?

The pictures which I have took yesterday are now uploaded. So you can see theme here: Pictures Priusmeetup Richmond VA
The original size is 3072x2304. Please contact me, if you want some in original quality.

I have also 4 movies, but they are to big for uploading. I can compress them, if I'm back in Switzerland.

By the way, if you look on one of my first photos, then you can see the mpg's for my first 143 miles here in the USA: 44.3 mpg!
Now there are 625 miles more and the display says 49.6 mpg for the last 768 miles. It's not to bad for me. If you look at my signature, then you can see, that I normally get nearby 40 mpg in Switzerland.
My trip to work is only 3 miles there.

cu next time
Fabio

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swissprius @ Sep 30 2007, 07:02 PM) [snapback]519587[/snapback]</div>

Wow...you took a lot of pictures! Very nice, Fabio. It was great to meet you and I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in the U.S.

 

Here are more pictures of all the pretty Prii and their proud parents:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=fsnsf4...1&y=-9lxvny

 

Since we spent all day on Saturday enjoying ourselves, we spent all yesterday doing yard work. By the time we were done, I was too tired to upload pictures. I hope to get that done tonight.

 

Nice job on the pictures guys, there were some great ones in there. Fabio you took a lot of pictures! Woohoo! Nice driving shots too, glad someone was able to snap some. I thought about video taping the whole ride, but after the three cops passed us, I'm glad I didn't

If anyone has notes on Wayne's battery presentation, could you please share? Unfortunately I had dinner with the in-laws and had to leave early. I would be most appreciative if you could post the interesting points from the presentation!

 

Hmm... Some interesting points from my mental notes, may not be 100% accurate:

The older prius has several battery problems that have been addressed in the new models (the prius II, if you will).

First corrosion of the battery ends, seen in the first few pictures of Fabio's snapshot album. This was caused by the fact that the battery had the battery contact going through plastic. Over time, as the battery heated up and expanded, the metal and plastic would leave gaps where the stuff inside the batteries would leak out and cause corrosion.
Toyota's "Fix" for the problem was to repair the batteries by removing all of the modules and clean the contacts as well as apply some sort of sealant foam that prevents corrosion. While it did fix the problem, it took a whole day to implement. After the majority of the batteries were fixed this way, the remaining ones were completely replaced. There has also been techs that were zapped because they didn't take out the safety switch that cuts the battery into two. The newer batteries has three relays that control the battery, two on the positive, and one on the negative (assuming my memory is correct). The reason for two relays on the positive is because sending 100% power to the inverter from the start will definitely kill it sooner or later.

Another issue, the battery overheating was also fixed. The issue stemmed from the fact that every battery module (the gray slabs)
is made up of multiple batteries, connected with a wire at the top of the module. However, thermal imaging shows that heat REALLY built up at the top of the battery, which caused overheating. This was fixed in the Prius II battery with the addition of a second wire near the middle of the battery.

If you look closly at the below picture, the batteries have a gap between them, to enable air to flow from below, carrying heat away. The newer batteries, from what I recall from his presentation, also have a metallic shell of sorts that acts like a heat sink.


The newer batteries also weigh less, ~80something pounds compared to the ~100something pounds of the classic battery.

Also, another interesting tidbit is the black bars that you see in the above picture, they hold the battery pack together when the modules get hot and expand... which is why you shouldn't service it when the packs are hot - the pack will explode apart due to the pressure that is built up from heat.

 

Cool, thanks for the info Bob

 

Just wanted to send a quick note of thanks to JimboK and Skwyre7 for all their work in organizing this event, and to Wayne for making the trip and doing the EBH installs. It was a wonderful event, and I really enjoyed meeting y'all.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tekn0wledg @ Oct 1 2007, 04:44 PM) [snapback]519961[/snapback]</div>

Thank FireEngineer instead

More tidbits: In the classic prii, when the batteries overheated, a turtle icon appeared that would inform the driver that the electric motor would be unavailable. It is also mentioned that classic fan turned on extremely often. I believe Wayne said it was a 2 or 3 speed fan that provided cooling for the classic .

In the very first generation Prius (Japan only), their battery packs consisted of circular D-cells wielded together (which is what some American car companies CURRENTLY use in their hybrids). Because the technology was so new and the batteries were so unreliable, Toyota offered to replace the batteries for FREE. However, they said no to any people that were outside Japan, because the cars were supposed to be sold only in Japan.

Ford was so concerned about battery overheating in their hybrids that they added ductwork from the AC to cool down their batteries. Even if you didn't turn on the AC, it would turn on and cool the battery if it got too hot.

You have also heard about the Lithium Ion battery conversions for the prii. The interesting thing that Wayne noted was that the batteries do not come with ANY warranty whatsoever. Yes, the technology is out there, but it has not been perfected to the point where companies are willing to stand behind it.

Also, another interesting thing is that GM (or some American car company) bought the patent for high-capacity batteries. Toyota actually settled out-of-court and now part of the cost for the Prii batteries goes to GM as royalty.

Disclaimer: All of the above is from memory and may not be as accurate as hearing it live

 

that HV battery sure is getting some mileage! P pun intended) rock on, Wayne!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob64 @ Oct 3 2007, 12:33 PM) [snapback]520649[/snapback]</div>

I'm sure it's true, but I don't quite understand that statement from Wayne. Doesn't Panasonic (Matsushita) supply the batteries to Toyota? If so, then why would Toyota have to pay royalties for the battery technology? Surely, Toyota must have required Matsushita to sign some type of indemnity clause to protect Toyota against any possible third party claims for copyright infringement.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Green Hokie @ Oct 3 2007, 10:58 AM) [snapback]520662[/snapback]</div>

Toyota is a majority owner of the Panasonic/Toyota joint venture to produce the batteries. Beside this was an American court, go for the deep pockets.

Wayne

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FireEngineer @ Oct 3 2007, 02:26 PM) [snapback]520727[/snapback]</div>

Ahh... That explains it. Knew there had to be a good reason. Thanks, Wayne! Hope the rest of your east coast tour went well.