http://enginer.us Prius PHEV conversion

I just crawled out of my cave and discovered that these kits are starting to hit the street. I'll be really interested in your results, Dan! This sounds like a great kit for someone with a commute like mine that involves lots of highway miles and relatively little need for EV. 10-12A should be enough to for sustained WS, which is something that I currently avoid like the plague in favor of DWL and SHM. Personally, I would limit DoD to 20% and limit charging to 90% (or even 85%). I have a ThinkPad for work and this strategy has resulted in a battery that still provides 100% capacity after 18 months. Since that cuts down on available energy, I imagine a savvy user would learn to engage the aux pack only when it is of the greatest value.

 

EXACTLY what I thought when I saw it. I already figured out how I can fit 12kwh in the back securely without sacrificing much cargo space. If the 4kwh works out as expected, I will bump it up to 8, then 12. Additional batteries and BMS are $500/kwh.

 

Any updates? Got a "It's Here" thread I missed?

11011011

 

Hey Dan,
The kit was shipped in two pieces. A crate with the batteries and a large box with everything else. The box with everything else made it to me. The box with the batteries never made it because it was damaged in transit and returned to the shipper. Meanwhile, the guys at Enginer.us were at a convention so there was no one around to ship another set of batteries. So I had to wait until the 14th for them to ship another set. They are due to arrive tomorrow, along with a second 4kwh kit that I ordered. Unfortunately I am at the beach so I will have to drive back home to sign for it, then drive right back to the beach to finish my vacation. I won't be able to provide an update until maybe next weekend.

I have started this thread at PC that you might be interested in.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...d-electric-vehicle-technical-information.html

There are a few people posting results already but it is clear that they hve no idea how to conduct a meaningful test. See here:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...e-test-pilots-mpg-reports-important-data.html

There have also been issues with the kit. Bad balancers, bad converters, bad chargers, problems getting the batteries to balance. I'm not so sure that all the issues are due to bad components, but rather due to non technical people installing things improperly and not understanding the first thing about the components they are working with. I am witholding judgement until I have a chance to find out for myself.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...iner-kit-proper-break-in-charging-cycles.html
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...-enginer-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicle.html

 

Finally, it is installed. I'm happy so far. Better than expected results:
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-p...-hybrid-electric-vehicle-8kwh.html#post945680

 

Wayne,
I will post results here as well. Should I post the install info here also or will the link to PC be good enough?

I am charging now, currently at 53.0V, Kill(a)watt shows 3.2 kWh so far. The charge rate is 15A and I have 160Ah to charge when fully depleted. Tomorrow's commute will have them down to about 48V. I will get a better idea on kWh usage by Tuedsay morning.

Yes, the HSS is the fuel cut for 52 MPH EV. It's probably not very useful with only 2 converters. If I add a third, converter, I moght be able to go full EV.

 

HSS is actually an ECU cutout, not fuel pump. I detailed the
semi-analogous setup for a quick and easy fuel-pump cut, but
it takes a while for the engine to finally die. Downside to
clobbering the engine ECU is that it's an immediate error for
the whole system, which some of the PHEV kits immediately
clear, but it's still klunky.
.
I'm confident that Dan is an expert at riding warp-stealth for
all it's worth and keeping the car in a normal mode of operation
to reap the same benefits, though...
.
_H*

 

Yes, I would rather not use the HSS. I haven't even tried it yet.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8/31/09 Morning Commute

Charge Info
Begin Charge Aux Pack Voltage = 51.7
End Charge Aux Pack Voltage = 54.5
Actual kWh used = 8.84
kWh to Aux Pack = 7.66 (87.6% Charger efficiency, does not account for balancers draining charge)

Readings
Beginning Aux Pack Voltage = 54.5
Beginning OEM Pack SoC = 67.0
Miles Driven = 67.6
End Aux pack Voltage = 51.2
End OEM Pack Soc = 70.5

Driving Conditions
Moderate rain, and wet roads.
Ambient Temp = 68F
Winds = Calm
Windows Closed
Fan set to level 2, no AC.

Route
12.0 Miles suburban at 25-45 MPH
52.0 Miles in the Interstate, CC set to 55MPH
3.6 Miles suburban at 45 MPH

Results
Trip ScanGauge MPG = 95.5
Trip MFD MPG = N/A *** See note
Current Tank = 61.6 Miles
Tank ScanGauge MPG = 98.4
Tank MFD MPG = 97.8

Analysis
Wet roads, rain and cooler temperatures than my first test drive yesterday. Under these conditions I would normally get 61 MPG on the way to work. The ending Aux Pack voltage is promising. Yesterday I ended at 50.0V. Still plenty of juice left for the drive home.

PHEV Performance
95.5/61.0 = 56.5% Improvement

Notes:
*** Filled up the tank 6 miles into the drive, MFD ended at 97.8 MPG for 61 miles and does not reflect the cold start this morning.

 

Some other observations..... On the highway with CC set to 55MPH, the SoC camps out at 70.5 - 71.0% and BTV is at 234V. On what seems to be flat terrain, instantaneous FE is 110-130MPG with both converters running. RPM is at 1184 which is SHM territory.

 

How would the Prius react to shorting out CKP (Ford lingo for the Crank Position sensor signal)?

On my SVT, doing this instantly kills the injectors. It is the most effective kill switch I have found. This sensor is particularly robust on Ford vehicles. The sensor actually sends out the positive signal AND the inverse signal. The only way to reliably kill it is to short the positive to the mirror signal.

 

Custom enginer.us Prius PHEV conversion (8kWh)

8/31/09 Evening Commute

Charge Info
Begin Charge Aux Pack Voltage = 52.7
End Charge Aux Pack Voltage = 52.7
Actual kWh used = 0
kWh to Aux Pack = 0

Readings
Beginning Aux Pack Voltage = 52.7
Beginning OEM Pack SoC = 71.0
Miles Driven = 62.6
End Aux pack Voltage = 48.0
End OEM Pack Soc = 53.5

Driving Conditions
Wet roads.
Ambient Temp = 66F
Winds = 10 MPH Headwind
Windows Closed
Fan set to level 2, no AC.

Route (Partial Hypermiling Route)
3.6 Miles suburban at 25-50 MPH
39.0 Miles on the Interstate, CC set to 55MPH
20.0 Miles suburban at 35-50 MPH
62.6 Miles total

Results
Trip ScanGauge MPG = 78.4
Current Tank = 131 Miles
Tank ScanGauge MPG = 86.4
Tank MFD MPG = 86.9

Analysis
Wet roads, 10 MPH headwind and cooler (66F) temperatures. Under these conditions I would normally get 60 MPG on the way home from work using this particular route. My first converter shut down at 104 miles (since last charge) and the second converter shut down at 110 miles. At that point, I had 81 MPG showing on the SG. So I only had about 50% of this trip with PHEV. After I lost assist, I changed to my (Hypermiling) route to help salvage my tank numbers. The route is shorter but takes more time.

PHEV Performance
81/60 = 35% Improvement while under PHEV assist.

 

Custom enginer.us Prius PHEV conversion (8kWh)

9/01/09 Morning Commute

Charge Info
Begin Charge Aux Pack Voltage = 48.0
End Charge Aux Pack Voltage = 55.8 (still charging from yesterday)
Actual kWh used = 10.70
kWh to Aux Pack = 9.27 (Also includes bumping up the OEM SoC from 53.5 to 72.0%)

Readings
Beginning Aux Pack Voltage = 55.8
Beginning OEM Pack SoC = 72.0
Miles Driven = 62.6
End Aux pack Voltage = 51.9
End OEM Pack Soc = 71.5

Driving Conditions
Dry.
Ambient Temp = 66F
Winds = 10 MPH Tailwind
Windows Closed
Fan set to level 2, no AC.

Route (Full Hypermiling Route)
23.0 Miles suburban at 25-50 MPH
27.0 Miles in the Interstate, CC set to 55MPH
12.6 Miles suburban at 35-50 MPH

Results
Trip ScanGauge MPG = 116
Current Tank = 194 Miles
Tank ScanGauge MPG = 94.9
Tank MFD MPG = 94.6

Analysis
I switched over to my high MPG route. It is shorter by about 5 miles but takes about 10 minutes longer, 90 min vs 80 min. My best previously on this route, with 10MPH tailwind was 72.3 MPG

PHEV Performance
116/72.3 = 60.4% Improvement

 

Did you see this morning's commute data I just posted?

The best technique seems to be use ICE at takeoff, but lightly. I can accelerate in the 1184-1216rpm range which for me equates to SHM.

About 10 days I think.

I can if you meet me there.

 

Re: Custom enginer.us Prius PHEV conversion (8kWh)

Fantastic!!!

Did you manage to get a read on CCL or BUF (charge limit and battery temp)?

11011011

 

Re: Custom enginer.us Prius PHEV conversion (8kWh)

They don't work on mine, Version 3.17. I will double check if I entered the numbers correctly.