PHEV mod under way, Bristol, UK.

ok

good luck nikki

Success!

After a horrid drive down to deepest darkest Cornwall, involving torrential rain and one of the worst mpg ever from Velma I made it to the breaker's yard.

Unfortunately the rain continued to follow us but we were given a small rest bite while we managed to get to the rather sad flood-damaged prius in the corner of the yard. The guys there had hidden it at the back of the yard because they were scared of it! Apparently the big warning signs on the battery had scared most of the guys, who had never broken a Prius before.

They'd rang Toyota, who had provided a full technical brief on how to safely remove the HV pack. Unfortunately the breaker team decided to ignore the advice, calling it too complex.

What we discovered when we arrived was a partly dismantled HV pack in the back of a very strangely dismantled Prius. They had removed the orange service plug and then, without the use of lineman's gloves, taken off the battery cover and forecably bent and removed the pack. It was left in the back of the car with the tailgate up. I was not impressed.

However, a few quick tests (load test and open cell voltage) proved that the battery was in good condition. After we'd found and cleaned what we could of the metal outer shell we re-assembled the case and headed home with pack one of two.

I also got the guys at the breaker yard to remove the Prius' fuel filler hatch. The plan is to weld that onto the spare front wing I have and hide the electricity socket behind a standard looking fuel pack.

What we learnt?

IF you want a second hand pack, make sure the person selling it has removed it correctly and not bent the metal cover to kingdom come. Insist if they don't know how to remove it that you'll do it when you arrive.

I was lucky. Even though the pack was partly dismantled when I arrived I was able to find and refit all the nessesary bits. I also only paid £240 for a pack which Toyota would have charged me £2,000 for.

Now the hunt for pack 2 starts!

Nikki

(will post photos at some point!)

nice job nikke
only toyota will charge 2000 for a new pack and not a bent over to kingdom come pack ;-)
reading your story i think 240 is a lot for a pack that damaged i think with a bit of luck you could talk that down when you where presented with that bad dismantled pack.
still nice job NOW up to pack 2!!! good luck.

Here we go - Some photos!

As the Flying Dutchman pointed out quite fairly perhaps we paid a little too much for the pack. However, they seem as rare as hen's teeth over here so I'm quite happy I have one. I was offered one from a mark II prius at a much higher price which of course I turned down.

On Saturday at our local EV/Hybrid barbecue (it was held at my home) a friend snapped some photos of the pack and the the other goodies from my trip.

With the top off the pack it all looks pretty healthy. Everything I need is in place, which is better than some packs I've seen (or been offered). It's a shame the top is a little bent. We're also missing the cover nearest the camera at the end, but since I'm going to be repackaging the cells anyway that's not really a concern for me.

With correct lineman's gloves (or should that be linewoman's ) the pack reads 215 V off load. Please don't do this to your pack unless you've got the appropriate gloves eh? The white ones are rated to 1000V

Our friend John is known for his ability to take terrible photographs of me. This is no exception, but it shows the fuel filler cap I managed to squeeze into the bargain. Shame the guy at the scapyard was so brutal removing it... The plan is to get this welded on the second-hand fender I picked up on ebay a month ago and mount the electric socket behind it.

More photos our weekend fun can be found at John's flickr page, including some rather nifty Electric Trabant photos!

Nikki.

nice nikki
when you disconnect the big orange fuse there is now voltage on the part your measuring i tested that last weekend
hope you find that 2e pack for a not rip off price

edit : i see at the picture's comment you already figured that out

When you're dealing with voltages high enough to instantly kill you there's no second chances

after it you wil never now

whats your next step ?

The next step is to make the front wing (fender)up with a charge port hatch on it. I have the required spare wing and a spare fuel filler hatch. A quick look today confirmed that I will have enough space for the 16A European style connector as used in camp-sites nationwide and on OEM EVs such as the G-Wiz and Mega City. A choice for me is to decide what to do with the way I use the hatch. Ideally I think I want it to be closed when I charge.

Nikki.

Just a little update. Wait. It's a way to vent frustration.

A 2007 Pirus which had been rolled came up on ebay for parts. I called the breakers in question who had the car in and asked how much they wanted for the HV battery.

Bearing in mind my last battery cost me £240 I was astonished to hear the guy on the other end of the phone ask for £640!!!!!! Yes... 640! That's $1,140 US by today's exchange rate!

Unsurprisingly I told him where to go. And it wasn't to the bank to deposit a cheque from me.

The search continues...

did you tell him that you already got a 240 costing pack? also from a damaged prius?

Oh yes... Just before I told him that I was obviously wasting his time as there was no way the pack he was selling was going to get sold at that price!

Nikki.

grrrr
i think you British say " what a arssss"

I suppose that the market for used Prius battery packs is going to be unpredictable and the breaker was clearly aiming to sell it as a replacement pack, not for a plug-in project which is pretty rare in the UK. £400 buys a lot of the evil petrol, so full marks for budget control

You could have told him in a few months the pack won't be worth anything anyway unless he has the equipment to keep the batteries from going dead.

A motto to live by, "Don't be greedy."

actually, the self discharge isn't all that much, is it?

self discharge on NiMH is around 5-15 % per month i think... discoverbatteries.com (i think) has a sheet for diff kinds of battery chemistries.

Nah they won't.. the plug-in prius will get everyones attention and the batteries will come down in price and they will have more sales from us 2008- owners...

Our 7.5KW solar array will be complete in less than 2 weeks, and I'm on the Aptera wait list. Prepare to be outsmug'ed.

aminorjourney did you already get your second pack?

being currently between home ownership right now, i dont have a solar option available...probably wont be in housing market until july 2010 (looking to be bad timing now...spring 2009 looks to be the best time to buy)

but definitely will be looking hard at solar AND another EV...hoping Zenn can keep their foot out of their mouth and produce the CityZenn as promised. there is a guy here in Oly named Joe, he has a website showing locations where you can plug in your EV around this area. he has solar on his house and 2 EV's (a Zap and a Miles) so i know solar will work here.

P.S. would love to get into a smugness contest with the entire world!!