Additional battery pack, GenII

[chuckknight]

I've been reading a lot on this forum, and found that "in-between" a regular Gen2 Prius and a PHEV, a third option can exist.

Basically you install a second battery pack which gives you more storage capacity, at the expense of more weight.

Well, I went to eBay and found the GenII battery packs...and they're not particularly expensive. Remarkable!

Since I can't remember the name of this type of modification, I can't do a search...what's it called, and what does it gain its user? I believe one of the claims was increased fuel economy, and a longer EV range. Don't think it's a true PHEV, though.

(I live in a small town. Everything is either <3 miles, or >30 miles away, so a usable EV mode would actually serve me very well.)

Can anyone point me in the right direction? This type of mod would be right up my alley.

Chuck

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Chuck,

Yes, salvage 2G traction batteries are pretty cheap because most 2G are still covered under the hybrid warranty, and the supply (from the # of totaled vehicles) exceeds the demand (from failures experienced by 2G vehicles with more than 100K miles - or 150K miles in CA and other PZEV states.) I would expect this to change as the population continues to age.

However, I do not think there is a very easy way to add a second battery assembly.

[firepa63]

There will be a problem trying to charge the 2nd battery. There are posts somewhere on this site discussing this. I remember reading them a couple of years ago.

[patsparks]

Read this, read it to the end, there are pitfalls.
PHEV mod under way, Bristol, UK.