Has anyone installed the enginer PHEV?

Thats assuming that you used 100% of the battery capacity. I doubt that is the case. What was the cell voltage before you started charging. From that you can determine the SOC and then calculate the charger efficiency.

 

:welcome: Welcome to prius chat! Heehee, that is how I found this thread a couple of months ago too. I was more interested in the Enginer Kit but no one had bought or installed it yet. It has been an adventure for sure. All of us are crossing our fingers it works.

My installer attended the Convention last night, and boy, there are some very passionate people about the whole plug-in movement to say the least. I just like the feeling of being oil independant.

My mechanic may be at your installation today then. I feel as you do. This is definately an opportunity not to be missed.

JOANNA

 

All the cells dropped to 2.8v.

We can't determine SOC based off of the cell voltage though...

I removed my claim. It's pretty damn high to say the least.

 

Ahhh thanks for the cool welcome!

Actually, I got a message from Jack that my install will be tomorrow at 2:30 PM in Santa Ana at the Galaxy Coachworks. I'm going to try to get their early in case they're installing one right before mine. I was trying to see if there's a local Prius meeting for Los Angeles but it appears the lights are on and nobody's home. Only old posts of previous events, nothing scheduled. Any locals looking to make a new event? Would love to see all our Prii lined up side by side for a photo shoot.

 

Actually, you can tell SOC from cell voltage. After you turn off the system the voltage will rebound. Did you check the voltage just before you turned on the charger? Was it still 2.8V?

 

I bought one of their 4kw kits and have it in my 07 prius. I would be happy to share my experience with whoever wishes to know more about it. So far, I am not impressed. The mileage increase has been less than 20%. Jack has offered to drive down and take a look at things and I will report back after that time. If anyone has specific questions, fire away.

 

How long have you had it installed and what problems have you incountered if any?

JOANNA

 

Hunter1,
I'll be at the Santa Ana install. See you there.

 

2.8V.

How do you tell SOC from a LiFePo4 battery using voltage?

 

I posted the answer earlier in this thread but I would be happy to explain it again. See the attached TS battery discharge curve (last page of the attachment).

The y axis is voltage and the x axis is AH used. Lets say you are at 3.1V. Find 3.1 volts on the y axis. Draw a horizontal line accross the chart at the 3.1V level until you reach the blue line. At that point, draw a vertical line down until you reach the X axis. You should be at the 32 AH mark. Since the battery is 40AH, and you have used 32AH, there are 8AH capacity left. 8/40 = 20% SOC.

If the voltage is 2.8V, theSOC is very low, maybe 5%. It's difficult to tell for sure because the slope of the curve is very steep at that point.

 

Today we worked on Enginer installs in Santa Ana.
Jack Chen and Dennis from Enginer, Paul from 3Prong Power, and I.
We also had help from some of the installees. Thanks guys!

plugmein2, saw your car there and took pics of your bumper being drilled. (First one I've seen with a passenger's side plug port.)

We'll be doing more tomorrow.

 

I only get 32AH with the red line, what’s the difference between red and blue?

 

I was there as well today having my Prius installed. Met some very nice folks and so glad it's being installed by Jack himself, Dennis, Eric and Paul. I felt like I should help too but knew the way I could help the best was leaving them alone as much as possible. It's hard to do when you want to see how it's all done, but I knew I would just be getting in the way. I'll be there tomorrow to put the finishing touches on and try to learn more.

I learned how to jump start my Prius if it ever farts out from leaving a dome light on overnight. Something every Prius owner should know. Take care all.

 

The differenc colored lines represent the discharge rate. The red line is 40A, yellow is 20A and blue is 12A. A 2kwh kit will discharge at 60A maximum. A 4kwh kit will discharge at 30A maximum.

 

First, let me say that the concept is a good one.

As I have told Jack, the documentation that comes with the unit and the ability to know if anything is wrong or it is doing what it was designed to do leaves a lot to be desired.

The first problems I had were the unit sits too high to re-install the rear cover. This is not a big issue, but something I did not like.

The next was the mounting was only 4- #6 sheet metal screws to the floor. I suggested some changes and I think they have beefed this up a bit even though I have never gotten any upgraded fasteners.

There were no instructions about how to wire everything up, but after 3 attempts at sending me written instructions that were unclear, I called Jack and he instructed me over the phone.

I do not like the lack of access to the spare. Jack says the unit can be unbolted and tilted up to get to the spare, but 90% of owners would not be able to do this.

The fire suppressors leak powder all the time, which leads me to believe they would not work if there was a fire.

There are no instructions other than verbally from Jack about how to know when to charge or stop charging. I get beeping from the balancers no matter if the charge is full or empty. I have never gotten a red LED on the dash switch no matter how long I have used the system. I only know the charge is gone because the dc/dc fan stops running. There are also special driving instructions that have to be learned according to Jack. (again, no documentation)
He says you have to start with the system toggle switch off and switch it on while driving to activate the system. You then have to back off the throttle any time you want to go into ev mode. (this is pretty much standard, but most non-industry people would not know.

My original dc/dc did not work more than 30 minutes and it was replaced with a more powerful unit. This one has a loud fan and produces a lot of heat. (110 degrees F)

Jack thinks I may have some bad cells in my unit. This will not be very much fun to replace.

The last thing is the mileage improvement. At best with very careful driving, I might be able to squeak 57 mpg out of it. I think I could have done this well without it considering the extra weight it adds. My average before was 48mpg without any special driving procedures. This is a long way from the advertised 100mpg.

I offered to help Jack with testing and improving before this product was launched in exchange for a territory, but I believe he is more concerned with getting units sold than producing a quality product.
At this time, I could not sell one with a clear conscience.

BTW, I operate an auto service facility that specializes in hybrids.
I am always open to someone who is interested in redeeming themselves and correcting things. If Jack makes good on this by making it work as advertised, or if other problems occur and I do not get any resolutions, I will post a followup on this thread.
I would be open to answering questions by email if anyone wants since I am not on here every day. [email protected]

 

I forgot, I did not answer how long I have had my unit. I have had it 2.5 months and I have the 4kw kit, which I thought would offer better performance than the 2kw unit.

 

I appreciate the honesty. As for product improvement, I think most of it will come from enthusiastic bleeding edge owners with technical backgrounds.

 

I am sorry this is broken up so much, but I posted before I saw these other questions.
I live 3 miles from my job and all of the driving is below 45mph, with most being 35mph.
The highest mileage I got was on the highway at 65mph. Have not seen the improvement at lower speeds. My battery monitor does stay in the green but it does not keep the car in ev mode very much at all, unless I am in glide mode or coasting.
I drive 95% in city driving at 35mph.
My daily drive is about 25 miles total.

 

This is great information! Let me respond to a few of your comments / concerns based on the kit that I received yesterday.

Agreed!

The documentation provided with my (pdf on a CD rom) kit is much better than what you describe. It's not the best that I have seen, but good enough. If someone can't install it with the instructions that I have seen, then they probably shouldn't be doing it themselves.

This has been resolved. The box is shorter and the rear cover fits in place.

This has been resolved. Now there are six 5/16 or 3/8" bolt/nuts.

This is also an issue for other kits. I don't think there is a good solution. I carry a can of fix a flat, a tire plug kit and a 12V compressor.

This is the only kit that I know of that comes with a fire extinguisher. It is included in case a loose connection causes a short and results in a fire. I think that this kit is as safe as others, with or without a fire extinguisher.

I was under the impression that the charger shuts off automatically. I need to find out more about this issue.

This may mean that you have a few bad cells. Swapping out bad cells shouldn't be that difficult.

I will report on this after my installation is complete.

I think the special driving instructions will help for better FE, but there should be some benefit even if you don't use them. Highway driving for example.

The original one converter was replaced with a larger (few inches longer) one. There is an intake and exhaust fan. The efficiency according to Jack is 90-95% so the heat generated could be as much as 300W (three 100W light bulbs). I would expect it to run hot.

I haven't seen 100 MPG advertized. I have seen a 40-100% advertized. The claim does seem to be optimistic but I won't know for sure until my batteries arrive.

As I have said, it seems that Jack has resolved the quality issues. I would ask him to swap out your old kit with a new kit. Maybe then you might have a different opinion?

Thanks again for your feedback. Hopefully Jack will work with you to get your issues resolved.

 

I think you either hooked the cells or balancers incorrectly or you do have some bad cells. Our balancers only beep when there is something wrong.

Our 4kw unit was installed yesterday. A 4kw system is supposed to charge 5 hours for a full charge. I charged it probably 3-4 hours for my test run this afternoon, so it probably was not completely charged.

We live in the San Diego area so our normal driving experience includes a lot of big hills. On average, driving around here without any freeway trips we get around 42-43mpg.

I drove for about 20 miles and got a hair over 60mpg, about 40% improvement.

I am able to do EV if I turn the system on right away and keep it under 34 with moderate acceleration.

So far we are very pleased with the results. We are in the process of adding solar panels to our home so in time our cost to charge up should be close to nothing.