Has anyone installed the enginer PHEV?

Installed it yesterday. Jack came by personally and did it. It took them longer than expected, although they were videotaping, so it's possible they took it slowly. Nonetheless, I'd suggest budgeting much more than the 2-3 hours advertised.

There is no access to the spare & jack at all, so take everything out before installing the pack.

Full BMS though, or so I'm told (I'm not where it was installed, so I haven't seen it firsthand - This is reported from my dad, who was there for the install).

We haven't driven it yet, will let you know how it goes.

 

nice.. hope to see that video soon

 

40%

SOC runs from 40 to 80%

 

Hey,

Perhaps not all of you will find the Post: Neal has already installed and partially tested the enginer kit (install was last Monday) in his Prius Gen1:

[priuschat.c*o*m] /forums/generation-1-prius-discussion/65545-2001-gen-1-prius-plug-in-conversion.html

I am looking forward to seeing all your test results when I get back from my vacation...

Thomas

 

Here's the direct link since Thomas couldn't post it:

http://priuschat.com/forums/generat...5545-2001-gen-1-prius-plug-in-conversion.html

 

Please see my message I posted today (7/18/09) on the Gen II forum.
Neal

 

See "Neal Crothers" message in the short cut of prior post by "drees"
Only 6.7 miles with a 4KW LiFePO4 pack?

 

This is for the PHEV battery Dave ? I though Li-X allows deeper cycling.

 

i am going to read the topic now but i think thats because of the dc-dc converter with just 12amps output.

 

My name is Jack Chen, the president and founder of AutomationTech who is offering this conversion kit. We are displaying a converted 2007 Prius on Hybridfest Green Drive Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. It is also listed on Ebay. If anyone is interested, please check it out at

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200364182373

Let me know if you have any questions. Visit our website at

enginer.us

and manual at

eaa-phev.org/wiki/Enginer

Thank you everyone for your support.

We hope we could contribute to the PHEV movement.

 

Welcome aboard of the PC community Mr Chen.
Hopefully you will contribute a lot to newcomers in the PHEV growing force with your newer products.
How you liked "Hybridfest '09" ?
Horacio

 

Another 2nd hand update - They have taken two trips with it. The first trip got about 60mpg, and the 2nd about 76mpg, and the 2nd was driving it a little harder than the day before. I thought that was quite promising. Does anyone know if there is a break-in period for LiFePO4 batteries? If so, that could explain the marked improvement in the 2nd trip, since the batteries are brand new.

Both trips the BMS alarm went off (ie. started beeping after 60-70 miles - also good) while the idiot light was still green (when it turns red, it supposedly means the batteries are low - 10% SOC? - and that's when you shut the system off). Investigating why the BMS alarm went off first - My theory is that it is set to go off at a higher SOC than the idiot light is. It was a little annoying that even after the system was shut off, the BMS alarm continued to go off (a couple beeps every 20 seconds or so) until it was adequately charged. Have to figure that one out too - I pinged Jack about it earlier (who I see has joined the discussion - Hi Jack! Hope Hybridfest went well for you)

Net-net - So far so good! But we're definitely square in the "just starting to learn" state. In particular, I definitely need to learn more about Thundersky LiFePO4 batteries, the BMS, & the charger.

 

Also, here is the link to the manual for BMS that's in our enginer pack. Sounds like the beeping was indeed a low voltage alarm (ie. when a cell reaches 2.8v).

 

Hello,

talking about the balancing system.. I understand that one balancer keeps 8 cells in series balanced... There are two balancers in the pack (16) cells. Do the two balancers somehow communicate with eachother, so that the whole pack (16 cells) is balanced ?

ciao

Florian

 

welkom jack

so the system needs te be manaul shuttoff?
what happens if you don't do this ( get out of the car and forget? ) will the cells be damaged? or will the dc-dc converter shutoff..
and if the dc-dc shutsoff wy do you need a manual shutoff?

 

Todd,

The balancer's alert limit is set at 2.8-3.75V. There could be slightly weaker cell discharged quicker than the rest of the group. The balancer would beep when that happens.

Our converter/controller's low voltage setting is set at 46V (2.875V average) across the entire string. That is why the balancer alters before the converter is automatically shutdown (Red LED on). The green LED will stay on as long as the converter is powered (regardless output is on or off). The manufacturer's spec for the battery is 2.5V to 4.25V so we are operating well within the range with very large conservative margin). Don't worry about it.

Currently the balancer, charger are off-the-shelf product. In the near future, we will integrate the balancer with the converter and charger so that the battery management would be even better.

Since we didn't spoof the HV controller, it is all up to the computer and the driver to determine the release rate of the electricity from our PHEV battery. I can drive under 40 MPH for 100MPG. If you drive faster or accelerate harder, you will get lower MPG but it last longer.

Todd's parent did 76 MPG over 60 Miles (match Toyota Plugin's number). On the way back from Hybridfest, we drove almost 100 Miles per charge on highway and achieve 64 MPG (normal is 50MPG).

We did make some comprise on the short distance MPG performance. But the rewards are the much lower cost, simplicity and lasting PHEV and stock battery life.

 

We are working with the vendor to make 16 cell balancer at the moment. There could be slightly different between two groups of 8 cells. But in our testing, it is not significant enough (+/- 0.5V over 26V) to be concerned about.

 

Please, refer to the Chargery DB8 as a batteries "BALANCER" for the LiFePO4 in use and NOT a BMS that it is a completely different thing.

 

when i read the info i see that its a battery monitoring system and not balancing.

it just beeps and shuts of the dc-dc converter or charger when there is a to high voltage diff. , to high voltage and to low voltage.

it wil not balance.. or will it?

 

From the 2nd page of the Chargery CY-DB manual:

So yes, it does appear that it will balance the pack for you.