Prius Gen 3 HV battery replacement - NiMH or ?

He's as big of a techie as one can get. He sells his own packs. Probably testing Chinese cells against the OEM.

Pixel XL ?

 

What you are talking about is a combination of two things. The first is that without proper pressure, the cells will expand like a balloon and pop. That's why the packs have those huge metal bars squeezing all the packs together as well as every module being screwed into a metal frame in 2 places. NiMH gets hot and tries to expand. It will expand if you let it. Most of these battery chargers do not have a custom frame to hold and squeeze a Prius module. If you charge slowly enough you won't make much heat, it won't expand. Problem solved. My cells are cylindrical so that solves the problem mechanically from the start. My cells can be fully charged and discharged on the bench with no extra forms. The metal cylindrical shape squeezes the cell together.

The second thing is the cheap low end stuff most people use. You are using hobby chargers and things that are cobbled together for $100 or maybe a few hundred bucks. I use lab equipment. Professional grade lab equipment. My electronic loads can do killowatts a piece discharging, and I have a few of them up to about 300V input. At around 8v like a fully charged OE Prius cell I can pull 120A all day long without a single load breaking a sweat. I also can charge them up. I have a 3-phase power supply hooked into commercial power line and it will output between 0v and 400v DC, up to 50KW. So again, at 8v, I can pump 120A into a module all day long. This setup and equipment alone easily reaches the 6-figure mark in price. I doubt your average Prius hobbiest will spend $150K on power supplies, loads, and electrical service upgrades to run it all.

 

Wao! This enlightening.

 

A Li-titanate (LTO) pack was designed and tested a decade ago. This was done on a Gen 2 Toyota Prius by the company EnerDel. See
EnerDel Presentation LMO/LTO

 

any updates so far ?

 

Purchased the new replacement battery pack $1600. My husband replaced it and it operates exactly as the original. Consistent 48-52 mpg.
Now the test will be how long it will last but so far extremely pleased!

 

Interesting project but looks like abandoned? .

 

yep, they all come here with so much hope and determination, then quietly slip into the night...

 

Just like those people who come and post that they will revolutionize a 10 year old prius with a new battery with a fancy smancy company name, and then.....crickets.