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4kwh Enginer GenIII PHEV in UK

Discussion in 'Prius PHEV Plug-In Modifications' started by Flaninacupboard, Jul 25, 2010.

  1. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    Well good news, my new cells are now on the way.

    According to my power meter i've put over 200kwh into the car so far. that's about 13 imperial gallons/61 litres of petrol displaced. Swapping from my previous car to the prius dropped my monthly fuel cost from ~£250 to ~£130, and with the PHEV it's now about £95. I haven't been to the petrol station since the 26th of jan, and i expect i won't have to go until the 14th...
     
  2. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    My new cells arrived yesterday, rebuilt my pack this morning and it's now balancing and then charging. Fingers crossed i'll be good for a while.

    Still having fun with the system, and now it's warming up should start to see some really good numbers soon :)
     
  3. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    Ok, all back in and for the first time i got to work with the MFD saying over 90mpg! My ride home is better, being slighlty downhill, so it'll be interesting where i finish the day. i'll try and snap a pic provided it's not too dark.
     
  4. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Keep the stats and info coming - we are watching it all out here.
     
  5. manishpatel

    manishpatel New Member

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    Hello Can you please tell me where I can buy a plug in conversion kit here in the Uk. I would also like to get someone to install it. I am a electrician so I should be ok with the electric parts, but I am not sure about the other parts. Do you get a manual on how to convert the Prius second Gen? I have the Prius 2008 T Spirit and I have just installed my own Solar PV system and have a surplus of energy that I need to use. Where else but my car to save on petrol.

    Can you help?

    Thanks
     
  6. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    There's two installers listed in the UK on the www.enginer.us page.

    I wouldn't advise buying a kit right now, there are some problems with the BMS which is leading to faulty battery packs.

    I installed mine myself, and it's not very hard. If you are hoping to actually save money with this kit, it will take 2 years or more for the savings to pay back. Having said that i've arrived at work two days in a row saying 99.9 mpg....
     
  7. Simtronic

    Simtronic Active Member

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    I don't think you can buy them for self install anymore, plugin planet is another uk site. See PluginPlanet.co.uk
    I have had a couple of 90mpg commutes to work but only 85mpg back as I can't plug in at work, maybe I can convince tham to fit one in soon. :)
     
  8. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    I asked just before christmas for a spot to plug in, and the answer was that they need to start considering it, but nothing so far.

    I'm headed to Milton Keynes this evening, and apparently their first public chargers came online on wednesday. i'll take a look and see if i can use them!
     
  9. Simtronic

    Simtronic Active Member

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    My company have just joined some green initiative and get tax breaks for them, looks like I might get a charging point at work after all :)
    I am yet to see a public one, let us know how you get on. :car:
     
  10. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    You need to pay £50 a year to get a swipe card to unlock them :(

    Not really worth it since i go to milton keynes at most 10 times a year.
     
  11. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    lol and is this the catch? Are EV owners going to have to register a card at each town or will one swipe card operate the chargers UK wide?

    And £50 makes a mockery of the free use chargers to encourage EV use. £50 would buy you a lot of home charges.
     
  12. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    It's part of the UK wide Plugged In Places scheme, so once that is actually big enough it could be worth it. the other attraction is that the parking becomes free, and in the "Red" zone at MK it's now £1.20 an hour. 4 hours per shopping trip and the swipe card pays for itself in 11 trips even if you never plug in.

    Competing schemes with multiple swipe cards would definitely be very annoying!!
     
  13. Simtronic

    Simtronic Active Member

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    I can imagine people without plugin vehicles obtaining the cards for the parking while I won't because once or twice a year I go into London. Imagine waiting for a vacant charging post because someone with no intention of charging ever is taking advantage of the scheme.:mad:
     
  14. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    Yep, i can easily imagine it. I've already decided that in that scenario i will be using my extra long charging cord and parking in such a way that the miscreant has no hope of escaping the space. :)
     
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  15. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    so maybe the rule wil be that you have to plug it in!
    a non plugger wil get a ticket
     
  16. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    And then we get a black market of fake plugs.....
     
  17. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    Business at the front door !!!:rockon:
     
  18. Simtronic

    Simtronic Active Member

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    Hey if they go to the trouble of making a fake inlet and lead maybe we should let them get away with it, come to think of it do the posts have a display showing KWH taken? I can imagine someone rigging up a heater just to show some watts used! :D
     
  19. Simtronic

    Simtronic Active Member

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    Maybe they will form a new force "the EV police" :D
     
  20. ibmsorcerer

    ibmsorcerer New Member

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    I would agree with Flaninacupboard about reliability issues that Jack seems to be trying to address. He's updated the BMS firmware to v3.2, which seems to help the system not throw away lots of charge while trying to rebalance the pack. System now comes default with high rebalance turned off and only does low rebalance/protect. I've had problems from my system and they are mostly resolved, but I need to send my charger in because it just quit on Saturday.

    I don't get the mileage you guys do, because I have a heavier car. So far my best uncorrected mileage for a single trip was 73 mpg. After filling up I recalculated the mileage based on calculated gallons used/actual gallons used and came up with 66 mpg.

    I have been able to get a tank increase of 8mpg by using the Enginer kit, but I'm still trying to learn how to use the system. I'll let you know if I can get over 1000 miles on a tank. This is what I was able to get on the first try 877 miles on 20.84 gallons. My best previous unassisted was 880 miles on 22.5 gallons.877.520.839