classic prius hv batt vs new prius hv batt

The batteries were improved in the 04+ Prius and further improved (cooling) in their SUVs. Basically the newer batteries are more powerfull (lower resistance) so can do more work. It seems that Toyota has also gained more confidence in the newer batteries because they are using more of the SOC (State Of Charge) range in the newer batteries than they did in the older ones. As such we get about the same ammount of useable energy from the new ones as we did from the old ones even though the older ones have more total capacity than the new ones. We get to use a larger percentage of the lower capacity in the new batteries.

Here: http://www.eaa-phev.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius_Battery_Specs is an overview of each generation of battery, and links to other resources. Please feel free to add any new links that I haven't run accross yet which you have found.

L8r
Ryan

 

The newer design has the cells' pos and neg electrodes repositioned (I forgot how) such that heat is generated much more evenly throughout the cell. This makes the thermal side of battery management easier, and allows more I/O cycles with less battery aging consequences. There is good graphics about the cell heating patterns somewhere on the web.

 

DAS, there is no change in the electrodes position. The new design added another weld point to connect the cells in series.

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/energ.../pdfs/38164.pdf

 

The voltage at the motors though is higher in the new Prius than the classic. In the inverter is a high voltage DC-DC converter that converts the 201V to 500V.