Electric Motor Details

Congrats and welcome.

It is the same electric motor as the Liftback hybrid. The difference is the battery power that can supply to the motor. The regular hybrid NiMh battery can supply 27 kW. PiP Lithium battery can supply 41 kW (measured with Torque app).

 

In a regular Prius, the generator (MG1) supplies the remaining electricity to the traction motor (MG2). The reason for doing that is to boost torque to supplement Atkinson cycle ICE. That's how eCVT works because it doesn't ever shift a gear. The amount of electricity blended in varies depending on the torque demand.

PiP with more powerful battery just enabled higher EV speed because the bottleneck (intended design) was in the HV battery.

 

80 hp is a lot of power. 1980's vintage 4 cyls made as much power. The only reason it is limited at 20 mph (42?) in the regular Prius and 62 on PiP is battery capacity. You'd run out of juice pretty quickly going past 40 mph in the regular Prius. Similarly, I try not to go past 55 mph in EV mode on my PiP. The Volt and Leaf have more powerful motors and larger batteries because they are motivated entirely by electric motors. The Volt has an ICE but it is only used to recharge the batteries which is why it is less efficient than the PiP for distances much longer than its EV range.

 

Electric motors in general are much more reliable than internal combustion engines b/c they have very few moving parts.

Yes, it's the same.

In the Liftback, the limit for EV only driving is due to the amount of power that the battery can supply, not the power of electric motor. When that speed is exceeded, the ICE runs and generates more electric power via MG1, to supply MG2.

In the Plug-in, the limit for EV only driving is the highest speed where the ICE is not rotating, but both electric motors are. Once that speed is exceeded, the ICE must spin.

 

The regular Prius ev is 42mph but it can and has gone faster under some conditions like running out of gas on the freeway.

 

To be clear, when the ICE runs and generates more electric power via MG1 to supply MG2, the ICE is also driving the wheels at the same time. The ICE is not solely used to run a generator for electricity.

 

...somebody gave me a pretty cool book on Prius 2004-2008 repair and maintenance Bentley Publishers with lots of nice pictures and explanations. Don't know if there is Gen3 Plugin version. They make a few comments in there that are new ideas on some of the FAQ topics we discuss around here.

 

it can, but it doesn't have to. i've seen instances on the MID where the engine is solely acting as a generator.

 

Huh? The Volt's ICE generates electricity that drives the electric motor. In CS mode it operates similar to the Prius in HV mode.

 

...here's a video you might like

 

If the ICE is running, it's mostly likely driving the wheels directly. The main exception to this being when you are going in reverse. There are other reasons where the ICE might be on, but not driving the wheels, but those seem to mostly related to being stopped at a stop light and the ICE running for heating the cabin, or being in the middle of the warmup stage.

 

i think these are all fascinating questions and i wish you luck in finding the answers. however, to your specific question:

Seriously, would you guys buy a car w/o knowing the type of engine? Number of cylinders, displacement, what air filter it takes, which oil filter. Maybe we take too much for granted. Maybe we can...​

i can say that personally, i'd look at the number of cylinders and displacement primarily to get an idea of the power of the engine and how much gas it will consume. that's all. i think most people won't even go that far, simply looking at the HP and EPA MPG numbers directly to make their decisions.

 

First of all, there's two electric motors in the car. MG1 and MG2. MG2 is the larger motor which provides the bulk of the motive force. MG1 is mostly used to start the ICE, and provides additional electricity to charge the battery, or provide more electricity to MG2 to drive the wheels.

If I had to guess, and I'm no expert on automotive supply and manufacturing, Toyota probably get's their electric motors for the Prius from a parts supplier that they are closely tied with. Both motors are probably custom designed to be used in the Prius.

Here's an interesting link that shows how tightly coupled the ICE, MG1 & MG2 are in the Prius. This shows how a shop did a rebuild/replacement of a bad MG2 in a Gen I Prius:
Prius 1st gen - Replacing an MG2 (electric motor)

As you can see, you can't just swap the motor out for a new higher output one...

 

TomAtoes... To-mah-toes? Close enough? Alright fine, thanks for the correction.

 

i have never been interested in the electric motor to any extent. hasn't had any detrimental effect in 8 years and 3 pri that i can think of.