Hymotion L5's in Canada

[linuxpenguin]

Originally Posted by jerktaculus

Biggest problem with the L5 - but not really it's fault -
If anything - I am trying to bug people to actually make charge locations available. I live in a condo in humber valley and there be no charging here - or on the street or ANYWHERE!

To Plug-it-in - beware the plug-in systems that replace the OE batt - if they ever throw a fault or develop any type of problem - you're cooked - hopefully not literally - but your car is useless. The prius OEM battery is about as dependable as you could imagine - as much as I'd like to drop that weight - unless it's done by Toyota or has some serious credulity going for it - no way. The Prius is not as straight forward to talk to as it seems and lot's of aftermarket PHEV replace-o-batts have been problematic.

Not to poke at things off topic here, but I'd say there is an equal chance that an auxiliary battery style conversion could leave you stranded. Just because the batteries are physically separated does not mean that a DC/DC converter system could not overheat or arc causing a burn-out or worse. By replacing the Prius battery all together one eliminates the issues associated with charging it in the first place which can (assuming the system is designed and installed properly) lead to a more reliable system.

The Plugin Conversion Corp system uses the exact same Nickle Metal Hydride chemistry that's already in the Prius for their battery replacement system (which is obviously a proven chemistry).

All that said however, the Prius is still a very complicated piece of machinery. It's no small task to fully replace the battery properly.

Andrew

[plug-it-in]

Originally Posted by linuxpenguin

Not to poke at things off topic here, but I'd say there is an equal chance that an auxiliary battery style conversion could leave you stranded. Just because the batteries are physically separated does not mean that a DC/DC converter system could not overheat or arc causing a burn-out or worse. By replacing the Prius battery all together one eliminates the issues associated with charging it in the first place which can (assuming the system is designed and installed properly) lead to a more reliable system.

The Plugin Conversion Corp system uses the exact same Nickle Metal Hydride chemistry that's already in the Prius for their battery replacement system (which is obviously a proven chemistry).

All that said however, the Prius is still a very complicated piece of machinery. It's no small task to fully replace the battery properly.

Andrew

I agree. Prius is a very complex machine and a lot can go wrong once 'Pandora's box' is opened and tinkered with. You not only must be 'in the know' of what you are doing, but the quality of workmanship must be equal to Toyota's - excellent. I have seen much smaller than a Prius battery 'upgrade' blow up because of poor, careless workmanship. (Like a chandelier fall onto the dining room table during Xmas dinner in a new home!) The loss of quality control over this is a good enough reason for Toyota to void warranty when the car's electrical system is worked on.

But assuming that the job is well done, I would still be undecided to pick between a Lithium add-on or a replaced/upgraded NiMH battery pack.

[linuxpenguin]

Originally Posted by plug-it-in

I agree. Prius is a very complex machine and a lot can go wrong once 'Pandora's box' is opened and tinkered with. You not only must be 'in the know' of what you are doing, but the quality of workmanship must be equal to Toyota's - excellent. I have seen much smaller than a Prius battery 'upgrade' blow up because of poor, careless workmanship. (Like a chandelier fall onto the dining room table during Xmas dinner in a new home!) The loss of quality control over this is a good enough reason for Toyota to void warranty when the car's electrical system is worked on.

But assuming that the job is well done, I would still be undecided to pick between a Lithium add-on or a replaced/upgraded NiMH battery pack.

It really comes down to how powerful of a system you want. If you want something that can pull a large amount of current for extended periods of time (say any sort of practical electric driving at speeds over 30 mph) you really need to replace the battery. Auxiliary packs simply can't feed enough energy fast enough to the OEM pack to keep up with the current draw (unless of course you have a massive DC/DC converter--but I'm pretty sure the cost of such a converter would be substantially more than it would cost to replace the battery in the first place). Most DC/DC converters being used in the lithium addon kits these days only transfer about 10 to 25 amps--which the car routinely pulls around 100 amps in electric acceleration.

That said though, if you just want something to give you a mild MPG boost for normal driving then an auxiliary lithium style pack may be good enough.

Andrew