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Rainbow Prius Hybrid Powered by Lithium!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by jacktheripper, Dec 24, 2019.

  1. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    Christmas Eve Debut!

    My ideas started a few years ago with the goal of creating an App to help drivers of the Toyota Prius community. With the popularity of Hybrid powered vehicles on the rise, I sought out to see if I can simplify the answers to many of the questions asked by Hybrid Prius owners. As the vehicle rises in age, one of the main issues are the questions that surround the Hybrid Battery. Visits to a certified Toyota mechanic to diagnose a common error code can be very expensive and frustrating. After years of development, we are proud to release the Dr. Hybrid App. A do-it-yourself at home, easy to use diagnostic App from your own phone or tablet. The Dr Prius App have since become the premiere and go to App for at home diagnostic and professional repair shops around the world! My journey with this App and the revenue generated are then turned back around and invested right back into R and D. Our next project brings us to the first Lithium Powered Prius Hybrid. That’s right Lithium Powered!


    Prius owners are selling and trading in their Prius at a staggering speed. Most all due to the expensive replacement of the OEM Hybrid Battery. I sought out for a team to develop a less expensive alternative that has better power, performance, longevity and most of all, at a fraction of the cost. With the money from the App generated, spent right back into the development of the Lithium powered Prius. Countless attempts with no great results were encountered. Steps are to repeat until we achieved success.


    Now, please meet the worlds first Rainbow Prius Project. Powered by Lithium Batteries! This is a sneak peak of several years of hard work and accumulation of ideas and hands on experience to share and help our Hybrid community. My experience as an engineer and my goal of helping Hybrid owners, is my drive to create a solution with a proven concept and backed by research. In the days to come, we will be releasing more information in regards to the power system.

    -If you are interested in our Lithium Power Battery replacement, please send us a message here!
    -Our Lithium Battery line is not yet ready for pricing at this time. We are in the process of marketing and as soon as we have pricing, we will release the information.

    Any questions, please let us know! We will be answering questions and comments! Please follow us as we love interacting with you here on Prius Chat and on Social Media!

    Prius App Website:
    priusapp (we can not add links here for some reason. It is a simple site address. Please try)

    -Available for Download now for iOS and Android

    Instagram: drpriusapp

    Facebook: Please search Dr Prius App.
    (Apologies as it is not allowing direct website links)

    Meet the Rainbow Wrapped 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid.

    -Vinyl Wrap by NextLevelWraps

    Best Regards,
    Dr. Prius Jack

    2019-12-14 06.55.29 1.jpg 20191123_200840-02_50.jpeg 20191123_202949_50.jpg DSC06505_50.jpg DSC06775-01_1_50.jpeg DSC07021-01_1_50.jpeg DSC07035-01_50.jpeg 20191205_144534.jpg 20191206_204909.jpg DSC07051-01_50.jpeg DSC07081-01_50.jpeg 20191129_094316.jpg 20191211_192711.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 jacktheripper, Dec 24, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2019
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  2. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    No prices? Back to existing vendors here for replacements :whistle:
     
  3. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Loaded statement.
     
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  4. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Toyota does use lithium in the Gen 4 Prius, and their other car also.
    ALL those photos, and on 2 of the battery?????

    Trading in at an "alarming" rate? Because of the battery? According to who? Or is it whom? From what I've read, seems
    most are trading to a new Prius. As they would with any car, getting the newer version.

    Are you reprograming the charging system? The 2 types of batteries charge differently so you would need
    to let the charger know which type of batteries you have so it won't risk damaging the battery, and maybe cause it to explode?

    With the Prius, seems you are spending a LOT less on repairs, so If you save that money, replacing the battery wouldn't
    be that bad. And the cost of replacing is going down, with aftermarket and dealership.

    Mine 10 years old and 190,000 miles, and have had no problems or indications of a problem. If/when it needs replacement,
    I think I'll get the set for $1600.
     
  5. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Price please
     
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  6. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Thanks so very much... You do incredible work... Very impressive!

    A few questions:

    --Just looked at Google store and Dr. Hybrid App is the exact same app as Dr. Prius app; it just now works with hybrids that aren't Prius now? Is that correct?

    --When can I buy it and what's your likely price range for a Lithium replacement option for older NiMH packs?

    --We often get people on here using the battery health test on Dr. Prius and those of us who rebuild packs are always scratching our heads as to how well/if that test really works? Obviously, reconditioning modules and doing self-discharge, regular discharge/load testing is the most thorough way to generate data on a spreadsheet and it's going to be a much better job of battery health and identifying the weakest modules. Have you used such thoroughness to calibrate your testing system, or is it just a simple charge/discharge measurement that is only an approximation of overall health?
     
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  7. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    We are still at testing phase to get all the certification done, this is just a sneak peak for Gen2 and Gen3 lithium replacement project, also Lexus 8 cells R&D in progress.

    oh, and no re-programming required, that's the beauty of it ;)
     
  8. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    Lithium price keep dropping and I've spent most of the time searching for new sources and negotiating price. It will be cheaper than Toyota stock NiMH battery for sure.
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Sounds exciting, all the best!
     
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  10. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    Thanks for the encouragement, a year ago I have to change the name to Dr. Hybrid for potential trademark issue against the name "Prius", turns out Toyota is cool with it and later even open up their patent/design to other manufactures.

    The lithium pack is running test on multiple taxi right now, we are also trying to get all the certification done early next year, no price available just yet as Lithium price is still dropping. I am pretty sure Elon Musk's battery announcement early 2020 will make another impact to this industry.

    Dr. Prius App has both load testing (a.k.a full battery test) and life expectancy test. The test result might vary depend on a lot of factors, temperature being the most dramatic one, I have built-in compensation table in the App to combat the difference, and I am continue to research new way to measure the true capacity.

     
  11. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    Very curious about the lithium changeover. With a 2010 that has 230k, I know that my time is coming.
     
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  12. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    My understanding is the lithium battery in the gen 4 doesn't provide any real advantage other than some weight and size savings.

    I'm curious as to what advantages you believe your battery is going to bring to the market? Are you oversizing it? Allowing it to have higher discharge rates? Anything major or is the plan to have it merely be a direct replacement for the factory battery? Will I be able to just drop it in and plug up the 3 car harness connectors and roll on?

    Although I have thought many times of building a lithium battery for experimenting, my biggest fear for trying to do a project like you're attempting is that it's SO different from OEM, it would be a huge lawsuit target the first time there's a battery fire and/or someone is injured/killed. Or transaxles or inverters start failing or who knows what. It doesn't need to make sense for a lawyer to smell blood in the water.
     
    #12 TMR-JWAP, Dec 24, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2019
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  13. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I think he's suggesting the advantage is going to be a lower price, as well as what you said about lighter weight... And I sure would enjoy lifting up lighter packs!

    As for over sizing it/increasing capacity, seems like the ECU wouldn't think there is something wrong with that. Hopefully he returns to this thread to let us know more details?
     
  14. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    Around 1/2 the weight, 300Amp peak, 125Amp constant to the motor, always running cool, always running at optimal voltage range, all these contribute to one thing - better MPG.
     
  15. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Did you run into any problems with the car not liking those differences?
     
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  16. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    Great question, we run into problems at the beginning of the project, the cell gotta have the right voltage curve and the right temperature tolerance, if it's easy everyone will be making it now :)
     
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  17. royrose

    royrose Senior Member

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    OK. To me the big question is how do you get the voltage curve to match. Is there something unique about the lithium cells that you are using? Is there some sort of interface that alters the output to match OEM batteries? Or some other mechanism entirely?

    Another question. How about operation in cold temperatures? Toyota continues to put NiMH batteries in most of their hybrids. One factor may be better performance in cold climates.
     
    #17 royrose, Dec 24, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2019
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  18. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Active Member

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    yes, these are not the regular Gen4 cell, these are the special high-power LiFePO4 cell that can take on big current, last a long time and will never thermal runaway (catch fire), that's why the weight can only be reduced to 1/2 instead of 1/3, but good enough for me.

     
  19. Maarten28

    Maarten28 Active Member

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    Only interested if it is an upgrade to a PIP with at least 10 kWh battery. Otherwise I'll take my chances and won't be alarmed when my prius will work another 100k miles.
     
  20. SBP Mike

    SBP Mike Junior Member

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    Very good news. Dr. Prius is fabulous. and Dr. Hybrid does not work on insights, civics, etc, right? It's compatible with the toyota interface. Is there a way to integrate a bluetooth plug-in to read the tap voltages on the honda packs? Any plan to build a Dr. Honda app?