Traction battery charger?

[chogan]

I have the Coastaltech EV mod. If I had a charger that would top up the existing NiMH traction battery, I could have a (maybe) 2 mile, slow-speed PHEV. Put aside the wisdom of doing that, because I could readily believe it wouldn't be a very smart thing to do. But is there any relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf device that could charge the gen 2 NiMH battery without frying it? I undertand Toyota dealers have a special charger for the traction battery, but I'm asking if there's anything out there that would do this for 100s not 1000s of $?

[dmckinstry]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Jun 5 2007, 12:49 PM) [snapback]455935[/snapback]</div>

I have the Coastaltech EV mod. If I had a charger that would top up the existing NiMH traction battery, I could have a (maybe) 2 mile, slow-speed PHEV. Put aside the wisdom of doing that, because I could readily believe it wouldn't be a very smart thing to do. But is there any relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf device that could charge the gen 2 NiMH battery without frying it? I undertand Toyota dealers have a special charger for the traction battery, but I'm asking if there's anything out there that would do this for 100s not 1000s of $?
[/b]

Probably not off the shelf. The problem is providing the right voltage, and keeping the current in a range that would be safe for the batteries. Possibly one could be obtained in the hundreds, but probably not the low hundreds.

Dave M.