Has anyone installed the enginer PHEV?

ok.. now i am not following.. ECM?
you talking about the oem nimh battery packs in paralel? or litium with the nimh?

of you want to use more % soc the thundersky's go from ~2.5 - 3,8 volt per cell
so the nominal voltag of the nimh is 201.6
if you want the same voltage for the litiums you need 201.6 / 3,2 ( cell voltage for the litiums ) = 63 cells..
these cells variate between 157,5volt ( 63 x 2,5 volt - to low for the prius ) and 239.4volt (63 x 3,8 volt .. or was it 4 volts? -252- )

so if you go down to ~195-205 volts ( using the bms+ ) you can not use the full capacity the litiums got to offer.

 

when this kit is working. does it need maintenance or just charge and go?

 

Just charge and go so far....but maybe someone who has had theirs for a while longer could comment. (In theory, it's charge and go)

 

OK, but the Enginer kit also uses a voltage converter too. Which means that you're pulling some significant amperage out of the batteries just to get the 10 amps that are put into the system. Will these batteries last at a 50 amp discharge that they are being subjected to on a regular basis? I don't know the discharge rate that they had to show >2000 cycles at 80%, but I would want to find out.

Also, by using two or even three Enginer kits, haven't you then surpassed the $10K mark (for 3 kits)? For that price, it seems there are other more tested alternatives. Or can you add an additional kit (inverter and batteries) onto the first kit for less money? It seems that you don't have to rewire everything again for the second or third kit, but I'm not 100% sure about that either.

Then too, isn't each battery pack separate, and requiring its own charger? Or can you really use one charger for two packs?

It seems like the Enginer kit is like an "Integrated Battery Assist" (if people won't object to a Honda reference) which does provide a fairly good boost in mpg. But it doesn't make the Prius into an EV for 10 or more miles.

 

Enginer's converter is shut down at 20% SOC of the PHEV battery pack. 50 Amps is way below factory 3CA (120 Amps) continuous current rating. It is very good for prolonging battery life.

But the combined capacity is 12KWH vs 5KWH in Hymotion's $10K package.

It is recommended to have separate battery pack / charger to keep charging time within 5 hours.

True. Our spec is in pure EV equivalent miles for better comparison with other kits. We are not after pure EV unless battery is really cheap in the future. We are emphasizing on EV cruise drive. After using ICE to accelerate, you can release the pedal and re-engage softly to enter EV drive at constant speed (<42 MPH) or high MPG ICE drive mode.

 

Yes, that answers some of the questions.

I was still wondering though, if you added a second converter/battery kit does that cost less?

 

Yes, it is plug n go in THEORY. Not in my case. I had a few componets that went bad. Hey, are you still just getting 53mpg? That is pathetic for a 4kw kit; you must have the new converter. The old one had a higher output. I was getting 63mpgs in a 35 mile roundtrip--with the 2kw kit. And then it overheated. The new one only renders me a 5mile increase, as far as I can tell. I still have a charge after my commute. I hope Jack can help us with some modifications. One cannot upgrade to more batteries if the converter's output is this minimal; it can't really even support EV mode, too low of an output current. I am going to test it for another week or so and then render my thoughts to Jack.

 

The MPGs I've been getting w/ the kit are between 72 and 83...but I don't like to think of it that way. The 3 (2 way) trips I've measured so far got 11, 13, and 18 (last night) e-miles from a pack. Looks like the batteries are getting a better balance as time goes on.

 

Some times I get home after a long trip of EV and the Prus battery is 49%. How are people maximizing recharging by electric the Prius battery?

Where are people stopping charging the Prius battery? I have had the engine come on at 77% SOC.

I have found that if I put the car in EV mode, leave the car and turn enverything I can off, and the SOC of the battery is 50%, it will take about 30 minutes to get to charge the Prius battery back to 77% and not have the engine kick on, thinking the engine needs to bleed off extra charge. The car is plugged in at this point also so I am not completely discharging the Enginer batteries as much while now bringing the Prius battery back up to full.

Am I missing something or is this right the best way to do this?

 

The Enginer kit is designed for blended mode instead of pure EV mode because of limited throughput. To prevent overcharging the OEM battery, the throughput will decrease in idle or stop. The converter current is at its maximum limit during driving.

So to get the most effect from the Enginer kit, try to keep 7 green bars most of time when the Prius tends to use more EV drive. Don't hesitate to use ICE to accelerate because acceleration can drain the OEM battery quickly (>50 Amps). Use EV for maintaining steady speed (~10-20 Amps).

 

What is the maximum limit of the converter current during driving?

 

Maximum current is 12 Amps for Gen 2 and 9 Amps for Gen 1

 

State of Colorado provides 85% state tax credit for Plugin conversion kit like the Enginer kit. Including 10% federal tax credit. Colorado residents may pay only 5% of the plugin conversion cost.

We will be at
Bioneers Conference, University of Colorado at Boulder, CO
Oct. 16-18, 2009
2009 Bioneers Conference
Boulder, CO
For details visit ecenter.colorado.edu/bioneers09

 

Sigh, all of us in California and other states around should just move to Colorado......

 

will you visit texas?

 

As of Tuesday my answer to the OP question is YES.. Install took 13 hours!!! and I hired professionals to do it. Hmmmmmmm.....

 

Who were these "professionals"??

 

My install only took about 5 hours. Are you happy with your Enginer kit?

JOANNA

 

If there is any fault to lay somewhere it wasn't with the installers. My version of the kit at least (supposedly the latest and greatest) was not as plug and play as we were led to believe. Getting the case to fit at all and to be properly bolted to the car body took a long time.

I must commend the boys at Electric Autosports for their diligence and thoroughness. They did an amazing job and were top notch installers. They never cut corners and always made sure that they were doing things the best way possible.

None of the supplied fasteners for the case brackets could be used. And a stock brake controller box's bracket/fasteners had to be moved and modified. The frame rails of the car were a challenge as well.

Overall I'm really glad I had them install the kit.

 

I'm happy so far. I drove around for 20-25 minutes on Wednesday night and averaged 2.5L/100 km. WHOO!!!

Interestingly, My OEM battery doesn't seem to fill when the car is on, parked and the kit is on and left for 15 minutes. Apparently my converter steps down the flow when the car idle.

from http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...in-hybrid-electric-vehicle-15.html#post975746

My OEM battery pretty much stays at 6 or 7 bars all the time now even with long stretches of electric only cruising so I know the kit is working.