The Battery pack of the Toyota Prius

[Doctorbass]

I found that interesting site about that battery pack,.. apparently made from NIMH cells :?

http://hybridinterfaces.ca/stockNIMH.html

 

[Dalecv]

"I fonct that interesting site about that battery pack",

Are you a speech writer for Bush?

 

[knightmb]

I fonct that interesting site about that battery pack,.. apparently made from NIMH cells :?

http://hybridinterfaces.ca/stockNIMH.html

I remember when the Prius first came out, I asked the dealership about what kind of batteries in which of course they didn't have a clue. Got a hold of a technical person at Toyota who said they were NiMH. I kind of laughed because it was the same I was using in my electric bicycle back then (well same pack anyway to this day). They explained the same thing that they don't over discharge or charge the packs to make them last longer. I've tried to be kind to my NiMH pack which has gone through some heavy abuse. I think in the past few years I've only done a really deep discharge about 6 times during some of the much longer 62 or 100 mile rides.

To this day, the packs still work and are about 80% capacity. I'll probably move on to Lithium packs one day, but for now those NiMH are really holding their own on my e-bike. Yeah, it was $500 for both packs years ago, but they already paid for themselves with all the gas savings (plus wear and tear on my vehicle).

So just like anything, if you start with good quality and take care of it, expect it to last.

 

[Dalecv]

Jokes aside, Doctorbass has been leading the way into cell recycling that we all envy.

I appreciate the sharing of the information.

 

[xyster]

"I fonct that interesting site about that battery pack",

Are you a speech writer for Bush?

Give them a break. English obviously isn't their first language. I believe Doc is a native Francophone, and we all know Mr. Bush is a native Texanophone.

 

[solarbbq2003]

new ones will use iron phosphate lithiums, seems toyota trying out a few different brands

 

[Doctorbass]

I found that interesting site about that battery pack,.. apparently made from NIMH cells :?

http://hybridinterfaces.ca/stockNIMH.html

problem corrected... :lol:

I hate my keaboard!... I think it's probably dur to some fin cooper wire that goes into it when i build electronic stuff...

I agree about Bush... ... Texan people have a "special accent!

I have began english cours at my job.. The teacher is great.

 

[Doctorbass]

new ones will use iron phosphate lithiums, seems toyota trying out a few different brands

I also posted something about that:
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1252&highlight=prius

Doc

 

[GGoodrum]

I have an Escape Hybid (two, if you count the one we got for my daughter's recent college graduation...), and I'm very interested in these PHEV conversions. The Hybids+ version costs as much as the whole car, though ($36k...). I'm waiting to see what the HyMotion setup will run. They were recently bought by a123Systems, and so I think if nothing else that will mean they won't have a problem getting cells. I have also heard that this conversion will not void any warranties, and might actually be offered through the dealers. In any case, I'm on the list as "interested", and hope to hear something by the first of the year.

I believe that a123Systems is actually developing two different larger cels, one optimised for higher power (the 32113-M1Ultra...), and the other for higher energy density (32157-M1HD...), the latter being what HyMotion will use in their Battery Range Extender Modules (BREMs...) that will be used in the Prius and Escape PHEV mods.

-- Gary

 

[fechter]

Our Mr. Electric works with Hymotion. I've seen the Prius plug in conversion up close. Nice batteries.

I'm hoping that used Prius batteries will become more available and cheap enough to take apart and use for bike projects. I've seen some on eBay, but they're still pricey. One Prius pack should be enough for a few bikes.

 

[ChopperMan]

Who wants to experiment on a Prius battery???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004...017QQitemZ270170817289QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

US$475 Buy Now !!

If it wasn't 4,000 miles away I would be tempted

 

[OneEye]

mustangman on the Goldenmotor forums was able to pull a battery pack from a totaled prius at a wrecking yard for free. There was something wrong with some of the cells, so the yard couldn't sell it. He hasn't had time yet to convert it for his use, hopefully there are enough good cells to make it worth his efforts.

 

[xyster]

I'm surprised the cells are only 6.5ah.
http://www.cleangreencar.co.nz/page/prius-battery-pack
A decent-sized bike pack would require at least two parallel strings, and the requisite separation scheme for charging. But $475 is a very good price for apparently 266 6.5ah NiMH cells.

 

[fechter]

I'm surprised the cells are only 6.5ah.

A decent-sized bike pack would require at least two parallel strings, and the requisite separation scheme for charging. But $475 is a very good price for apparently 266 6.5ah NiMH cells.

Yeah, free is even better. I'll have to check out the junkyards around here. I seem to be smack in the middle of the most Prius dense part of the world. They must get into accidents too.

Running two or more parallel strings would be necessary, and they'd have to be separated for charging, but that's not rocket science.

The one on eBay is only 2,000 miles from here.

 

[mvadventure]

Not to get sidetracked on Prius but my bride and I looked at one at the St. Augustine, FL dealer this summer. I was kind of surprised to see them in the 30K range (nicely equipped) but also surprised to see a Camry hybrid. We drove both and liked the Prius better.

Probably, likely, the reason there isn't one in the garage now is the ignorance of the salesman, sales manager and service manager. No one in the dealership had any idea of what kind of batteries they were, how long they lasted or what the replacement cost would be. The other issue is that in our Lexus we have a product called "Lexus Link" which is actually nothing more than GM's Onstar. Since Lexus is a Toyota and the Prius is a Toyota I told the salesman we would buy one, despite his battery ignorance, if we could get Lexus Link installed. Neither he nor the sales manager ever heard of it.

So....we got in our Lexus and went home. Maybe I'll wait on the Chevy Volt! It'll probably be ready by the time my batteries get here from Zane at Aten Energy.

On a side note: My bride had Tivo'd CBS's "Sunday Morning" for me a week or so ago as there was something on it about electric cars. I watched it yesterday (and probably shouldn't have erased it) and the big cheese from GM was on talking about the new Volt and new batteries under development. The show also went on about the Tesa and a brief hx of electric cars. GM "seems" very excited about this new technology but then again they are the ones that killed the electric car.

Mike

Mike

 

[NickF23]

mustangman on the Goldenmotor forums was able to pull a battery pack from a totaled prius at a wrecking yard for free. There was something wrong with some of the cells, so the yard couldn't sell it. He hasn't had time yet to convert it for his use, hopefully there are enough good cells to make it worth his efforts.

Thats a gem of an idea. In the UK we have a used parts request web based service that goes out to scrap yards across the country. I imagnine you guys must will have something similar, at least on a state level.


**rushes off to find it**