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Questions concerning PHEV modification, particularly Enginer

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Unresolved_ERR, Jun 17, 2021.

  1. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    I have a Gen 2 with the Engineer kit and a 10kWh battery. The contactors fail at a regular interval because the 10kWh battery is at around 270vdc fully charged and the traction battery is at around 228v when the top up link together happens, then drops back out when the traction battery reaches about 240vdc, so an arc each way x lots of switching means the contacts really cop a lot of abuse.
    The EV button only gives the gen 2 about 35km/h before the ICE kicks in, the mod that tells the computer the fuel pump has failed and kills the ICE allows for roughly 80km/h (50mph) and will drive the gen 2 for about 80km (50 mile).
    I recently blew my traction battery up, flames and all, because I didn't measure the actual module voltages and attempted to charge the traction battery at a steady 2 amps till the "Scan gauge" said the computer considered the battery to be at 1005 SOC. Dump thing to do I know, but it was in preparation to build a big capacity traction battery (24kWh) out of cylindrical LTO cells to replace the extended range Engineer set up battery that lives in the spare wheel well.
    Not a cheap upgrade, the cells alone are costing me more than AUD$10,000, but if it works then I'll consider it money well spent, if it doesn't, I have an electric car that I'm rescuing that would love to have them.
    The aim is for 160km (100 mile) EV only range and/or the 2.5ltr/100km (I think us gal =3.8ltrs and 100Km is roughly 62 mile) (roughly .66 us/gal per 60mile) in mixed mod driving, around 1600km (roughly 1,000 mile) to the tank, maybe more if I can use the EV mode in traffic or the ICE kill mode in the towns and city. The down side of the ICE Kill mode, you have to stop and turn the car off, then restart to get back out of the ICE Kill mode, not real convenient when the speed limit goes over 80km/h (50mph)

    T1 Terry
     
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  2. Unresolved_ERR

    Unresolved_ERR Junior Member

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    Definitely a little more involved electrically than I'd like to be after spending the vast majority of my bank account :')
    In any case, thank you for your answer! You're the only person on the thread so far to have experience with the Enginer kit. Very interesting to hear about.
     
  3. Unresolved_ERR

    Unresolved_ERR Junior Member

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    I mentioned in this thread giving pictures of high MPG numbers, so I've gotten around to that - perhaps I'll put them in this thread, perhaps not.

    If I get something absolutely astonishingly high, I might post it somewhere on here? High scores are always nice.

    Something that doesn't help my per-tank mileage (the only mileage you can calculate yourself, at least easily) is the fact my girlfriend only lives 2 miles away. So the trips to her are always upper 20s, lower 30s, maybe 40 if I'm lucky.

    That said, here's that 80 MPG drive I had:

    upload_2021-6-19_5-25-31.png

    I remember now that the engine had warmed from a previous trip. I had come home from work at a time like this, gotten a shower and was getting back in the car to go to my girlfriend's (at the time she lived somewhere different than now). So surprise surprise, when you don't include gas for warming up the engine, your MPG rises immensely.

    But as far as attesting to actual hypermiling, here's the best I have on record:

    upload_2021-6-19_5-26-5.png

    and here's the one I did just tonight:

    upload_2021-6-19_5-26-23.png

    When I take the highway, it's 15 miles. When I don't, it's 11. Yeah, weird. So even if it was the same mileage taking the highway, it would still be more efficient to avoid it.
    My TPMS light came on as soon as I started the car. The 7-11 next to my house offers free air, the oncue next to my work doesn't, so I just drove home with tires modestly deflated. It was:
    30 psi - driver rear
    31 psi - driver front
    31 psi - passenger front
    29 psi - passenger rear

    For everything except tonight, it was done on 40 psi Defenders, from the previous owner. I've considered over-inflating my Ecopias modestly, but honestly, the under-inflated Ecopias still roll more than the over-inflated Defenders, and I do like to be able to stop quick ish -
    Being tailgated and cut off in Oklahoma is to be expected when you drive a Prius, no matter how fast you drive. Seriously, sometimes I just decide to see how far I can push people, and I'll go 60 in a 45; people will go 70 to pass me. Sometimes I see them realize how fast they're going and hit the brakes, but typically people just seem to see oh, a Prius and immediately aggressively pass me.
    Tall, large pickups rolling coal at me after passing is not uncommon, and neither is being cut off. (You can see why I want to move).

    Lastly, even WITH hypermiling, in deep winter like the freeze that happened at the beginning of the year, this is the best I could do:

    upload_2021-6-19_5-26-44.png

    The engine kept turning on during the glide because it was just too goddamn cold.

    In any case -- yeah, what this site has taught me has really saved me some gas money, helped me make decisions about my vehicle, and made me more passionate about cars and hybrids in general. Which honestly...I just never expected I'd be happily posting car-related things on a 2000's esque forum site. I was not at all a car guy in high school, but here I am now. Honestly really cool, hope everyone in the discussion so far is doing well in their life.
     
  4. Valiant V

    Valiant V Member

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    I don't know of any states charging "double" sales tax on vehicles - that's not to say it doesn't happen.

    Then again, for private sales, pretty much every state charges sales tax multiple times for the same vehicle. Original buyer pays tax on the new car, he sells it to another person, they have to pay sales tax on it when they register it. If that person sells it again, state gets another dip of taxes. It's definitely a racket.

    With all of the political issues people love to bitch and moan about, I'm really surprised that "taxes" -in general- aren't a much bigger issue. Buy a new car and sales tax pretty much wipes out a sizeable down-payment. Go to the hardware store and add pretty much another 10% to the bill for the governor. 'Course, there's "Uncle Sam" with his hand out taking a chunk of every paycheck and then making you do all the paperwork for him on April 15th.
     
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  5. Valiant V

    Valiant V Member

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    Tip: Don't bother moving to Texas or Louisana.
     
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    or boston:rolleyes:
     
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  7. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    I do that, but those posts are mpg by the tank or after a long drive. Anything like a few miles only can be had by any vehicle.
     
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  8. Unresolved_ERR

    Unresolved_ERR Junior Member

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    If we're going for political issues, namely taxes...
    Cue obligatory note that people with millions and millions, or especially billions, don't even pay the same tax rates lower-making people do, when they should be paying more, all things considered. I mean, even if you consumed $100k/year, which is 10x what some people I know live off of, and you live to 100 and retire at 20, that's just $8 mill. Anything beyond that, you have to start having multiple boats or multiple Ferraris to burn through it - its absurd.

    Other countries, from what I'm aware of, have tax listed onto the price, so you don't feel cheated when you check out at the store. I suspect that its something large corporations lobbied for, to make people feel cheated by the government instead (although the lack of a receipt for taxes doesn't help). But that in particular is purely opinion - everything else here is just fact.

    Cue other obligatory note that our tax system used to have an option to have the IRS fill out all your numbers for you, which if I'm not mistaken is what many other countries do, since they clearly already know what you owe them; I don't know what other countries do, but it would be very good to receive a bill / receipt for the tax money, too. Companies like Turbotax have lobbied and lobbied against allowing the IRS to fill out your taxes for you, so now you can't anymore. Yeahhhhhhhhhhh freedommmmm.
    The vast majority of political candidates in America put the people that can donate the most money first, because how else are they going to receive funding? - so by the time it gets down to the 2 choices we typically get (which is an awful system in its own right), the people with 9 or more zeros behind their net wealth get put first regardless of what the lesser-voters wanted.

    Lets not even mention access to basic necessities, like healthcare.

    I hope to see change in my lifetime - I hope I've seen some of that this last year, with the pandemic - but who knows.
     
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Then what was the issue you were concerned about back here? Paying double taxes -- sales-use tax in more than one state -- was the way I interpreted this post:
    And as I previously mentioned, there is a place where you can pay double sales taxes: cars purchased in California and driven (not trucked) out of the state to be registered someplace else that charges such taxes (i.e. not Oregon).
     
  10. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I don't recall a time when the IRS ever filled out the numbers for you. They have never already known what very many people owe.
     
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  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that sounds like a debacle waiting to happen
     
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  12. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Move to Australia, you get a wide eyed look as you pass an ICE powered vehicle in a Prius and not many of them can stay with me when the speed sign changes from 50km/h to 80km/h, then 100km/h and 110km/h (just the way they do it here in South Australia). Every so often you get a "Hoon" in his high powered car stay with you and then pass as soon as possible, but there are no bragging rights available for passing a Prius over here so most try to ignore you even exist :lol:
     
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  13. Unresolved_ERR

    Unresolved_ERR Junior Member

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    You are correct; from what I can find, legislation has tried to pass to make the IRS do this several times, but its been struck down thanks to lobbying efforts every time. Similar to Net Neutrality, except that Net Neutrality was alive for a little while, whereas - as you said - the IRS never filled out the numbers for you.

    Regardless, they could, but that would affect someone's bottom line, so...

    Thanks for double-checking me:)(y)
     
    #53 Unresolved_ERR, Jun 20, 2021
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2021
  14. Unresolved_ERR

    Unresolved_ERR Junior Member

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    Don't worry, I'm not moving anywhere more southern than here. And, being honest, Oklahoma is just small Texas (but also there's Indian Reserves)...


    I also do not intend to move to any large city, or at least, not inside of it. Maybe close ish (30 minutes-an hour) but very small spaces in very large cities are very expensive :') , and I'd prefer to spend the same money on something with more space, even if that means more commute, or telework.
     
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  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    prices are skyrocketing. first everyone left the city due to the pandemic, now they're all moving back in. talk about rash decision making
     
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  16. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    No, they can't, at least not for everybody.

    For young wage slaves with little or no investment income and no business income at all, yes they can. But as a retired senior, I've been paying taxes more than twice as long as you've been alive (according to your profile), and still have investment assets predating any cost basis reporting to the IRS, so they are completely unable to fill out my Schedule D. And even that is simple compared to people with business income, the IRS completely lacks the bookkeeping records needed to fill out their taxes.
     
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  17. Unresolved_ERR

    Unresolved_ERR Junior Member

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    This is very informative and I appreciate it!

    The day and month are intentionally left wrong on my profile, but the year and age are roughly correct.

    "For young wage slaves with little or no investment income..." allow me to sound young here, big mood. Big yeet, really, but I don't know if I want to explain that slang lol...

    I happen to make fairly good wages because where I work is unionized, and I go to an affordable ($5000/semester) college. I know people that work near minimum-wage ($8.50 or less) and go to colleges that are $15,000/semester, and they end up with debt so beyond crippling, I don't know if many in this generation will have the money to make investment or business income...even public, in-state colleges average $10,000/semester...regardless.

    The implication of this, if I'm not reading incorrectly, is that they (the IRS) still will have the ability to (fill out your tax files for you), given enough time?

    Just feel like saying...20 is such an odd age. Not really fresh out of high school, but still feels like it. At the same time, I feel extraordinarily young in interactions like this and at my work, where I am one of the youngest people (unsurprisingly), but since my close-friend group is largely unchanged and I befriended a number of freshmen when I was a senior (in high school, obviously), hearing the slang 16 year-olds say makes me feel old. I can't begin to imagine the amount of slang 16 year-old people have gone through in the years between the start of your life and the start of mine (totally radical, dude! - or, I suppose, "that's cool" would have been slang at one point).

    I feel measuring time by teenage slang is interesting, since it gives perspective to the important historical events (war, war, war, presidential resignation, war, war, war, internet, modern day) and makes me realize how hilarious and/or bizarre it sounds when you don't have the subcultural (high schooler) context for it.

    Only 2 things that are certain in life...