Upgrading my Prius to a plug-in hybrid

[LTC8K6]

The oil and gas industry is subsidized billions of dollars every yr how is free enterprise served in that ? Many auto companies are given tax holidays to build their plants in certain states how is that representing the free market?
The marketplace is manipulated all the time, giving tax breaks on low volume special interest cars doesn't worry me

Yeah, why do we do that stuff? It only serves special interests, and often we never get the money back in tax revenue. The market should be left alone, for the most part.

 

[desy]

Questions far beyond the scope of this thread of why government picks winners and losers, roles of governments and taxation. . . . .

I just don't think it matters too much in this case I look at it as R&D subsidy which NA could use an injection of anyway

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Yeah, the US version does too. Mine can do this, you have to accelerate REALLY slowly to use it all the way up to 34mph. If you use gas to get up above 34mph, you can hold any speed up to ~45mph using electric only as well.

To be more specific, the European versions have a switch that you can press to "force" EV mode, I was under the impression that the US version didn't have it...

 

[PottedMeat]

To be more specific, the European versions have a switch that you can press to "force" EV mode, I was under the impression that the US version didn't have it...

there's some pdf floating about that shows how to wire a switch to force EV mode in US models. basically you pop out one of the plastic place holders that was meant for some other switch, install, and tie it into one of the ecu harnesses. i think it was limited to ~20 miles and <35mph.

 

[pm]

To be more specific, the European versions have a switch that you can press to "force" EV mode, I was under the impression that the US version didn't have it...

The newer 2010+ model Prius's have that button. There's a button on the dash labelled "EV" and it puts the car in electric only mode up to 34mph. It only works if the Prius battery has more than 1/3 capacity, if you don't push the accelerator down too hard, if you stay under 34mph and if the engine is sufficiently warm. If you are in EV mode and you run out of battery, or go too fast, there's a little double-chime thing and on the display it says something like "EV mode disabled. Excessive speed" and the motor starts up again.

there's some pdf floating about that shows how to wire a switch to force EV mode in US models. basically you pop out one of the plastic place holders that was meant for some other switch, install, and tie it into one of the ecu harnesses. i think it was limited to ~20 miles and <35mph.

That was for the 2003-2009 model year Prius's. The newer ones have the EV mode built-in.

Here's a somewhat blurry cell phone photo of the dash of my car. Since it's blurry, I added a yellow arrow towards the EV button.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

The newer 2010+ model Prius's have that button. There's a button on the dash labelled "EV" and it puts the car in electric only mode up to 34mph. It only works if the Prius battery has more than 1/3 capacity, if you don't push the accelerator down too hard, if you stay under 34mph and if the engine is sufficiently warm. If you are in EV mode and you run out of battery, or go too fast, there's a little double-chime thing and on the display it says something like "EV mode disabled. Excessive speed" and the motor starts up again.



That was for the 2003-2009 model year Prius's. The newer ones have the EV mode built-in.

Here's a somewhat blurry cell phone photo of the dash of my car. Since it's blurry, I added a yellow arrow towards the EV button.

Excellent- I was wondering if they hadimplemented it on the US spec (bonus points for pics!!).

I'm guess it is programmed that way for battery life/safety factors...

 

[pm]

I got the last part of the kit yesterday and I spent the evening checking the batteries and trying to figure out how all of the pieces tie together. I have everything figured out except a few connections and I should be able to check the charger and BMS (Battery Management System) out tomorrow. Using my multimeter all of the cells were 3.191V precisely across all 16 cells - which in my experience with large lithium-based battery cells is pretty good.

Here's a photo of the kit. The two large silverboxes with the rope handles are two 26V 74Ah lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo) batteries. LiFePo batteries don't catch on fire like laptop/cell phone batteries, but they don't hold as much energy and are a lot heavier (but still way better than lead-acid). The silver thing perched on the right edge is the BMS, and the charger and 5kW DC-DC converter are inside the metal casing that the batteries are on. The long blue wire is a USB cable to a battery status box that I assume that I install so that I can view it from the passenger seat... but the documentation doesn't say (but that's a really long USB cord otherwise).

 

[Throckmorton]

In general, the marketplace should decide these things.

If the company selling the stuff wants to give you a discount to move the merchandise, that's their business.

The public shouldn't have to chip in to outfit your house or help you pay for a car, or help a company sell products. Especially with the mountain of debt we already have.

Solar seems to be a money loser, like wind energy seems to be.

If solar was economical, then it might make some sense to subsidize it to get it out there and going, but it doesn't seem to be.

If and when solar makes economic sense, it will enter the marketplace and do well. Forcing it in doesn't seem to work too well.

Solar was all the rage a long time ago, when I was a child. It didn't make sense then, so it died out.

Solar power needs subsidies to make it a level playing field

 

[LTC8K6]

Solar power needs subsidies to make it a level playing field

Too bad...because as far as I can tell, subsidies almost always fail to get something going.

The marketplace generally works. When the price of gasoline goes up, we see alternatives gain ground every time. When the price of going solar gets cheaper, we see more adopters.

 

[pm]

I got the kit installed last Saturday. It took about 6 hours to install - although a bunch of that was spent trying to figure out how to remove panelling in the dashboard. The kit fits above the spare tire but under the trunk space in a bit area that for whatever reason Toyota left empty. So aside from a small battery monitor that I put under the center console, and a switch with a couple of status monitors, you can't even tell that it's there.

I've been driving around on it since then and it's working fine. I can see the batteries supplying power to the electric motor and I can see that my mileage has jumped from about 49mpg to about 72mpg in longer trips around town. About the only downside so far is that when it's supplying a lot of power the 5kW DC-DC converter smells a bit - a bit of a rubbery, electrical smell that isn't pleasant. But if you crank the air fan up a bit you can't smell it as much - I'll hook up some sort of venting for it at some point.

So far, so good.

The photo below was when I was installing it in the trunk. It makes for a better photo than the final product because, like I said, when I finished, you'd never know that I had installed anything.

I'm glad I bought it when I did because the company, Enginer.us, stopped selling it to end-users on Feb. 1st, and now you need to pay an installer to put it in.

 

[Eli]

Awesome. Last time I looked at Enginer's website, which was probably 2 years ago now, they were going to develop something for the 1st generation Honda Insight. Doesn't look like that ever happened.

This sort of system would be PERFECT for my car, especially now that I have manual control of the hybrid system. Time to build a booster pack!

 

[pm]

It works in the Insight - they just don't have a detailed manual for the install.

Edit: yeah, I checked, it's been installed in several 2001 Insights. See photos here for Eric Power's Insight's install.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79702783@N00/sets/72157622162233964/

The guy who did the install posted his phone number for any other Insight owners who have questions - register for the forums at engineer.us or PM me if you want it.

 

[Eli]

It works in the Insight - they just don't have a detailed manual for the install.

Edit: yeah, I checked, it's been installed in several 2001 Insights. See photos here for Eric Power's Insight's install.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79702783@N00/sets/72157622162233964/

The guy who did the install posted his phone number for any other Insight owners who have questions - register for the forums at engineer.us or PM me if you want it.

Ahhh. Yeah, I've seen those pictures before.

But you said you can't buy the kits anymore? Damn, that sucks...

 

[pm]

Ahhh. Yeah, I've seen those pictures before.

But you said you can't buy the kits anymore? Damn, that sucks...

As of three days ago... but you can always try. Email CS@Enginer.us and ask