1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Adding 2nd Lithium pack in Parallel

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Brandon Kennedy, Feb 28, 2022.

  1. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2008
    7,917
    4,678
    7
    Location:
    Texas Hill Country
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    A portable power station in the trunk is the idea. Toyota was apparently too conservative with the large size of the factory battery pack.

    Lots of EE101 laws of physics violations.
     
  2. tekstyle

    tekstyle Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2014
    48
    2
    0
    Location:
    seattle wa
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    pass through charging is a thing. but getting a hand on the wiring schematics from 1772 port to battery and trying in between would help I don't think there is a data wire on these cars. I think it just sees 120 or 240v line voltage, and it will switch the relay to connect the inverter to the battery.
     
    bisco likes this.
  3. black_jmyntrn

    black_jmyntrn Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2020
    1,289
    336
    3
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I take it you haven't taken the fabric and all of the rear end below the fabric apart yet? It's the ECU tho... when in READY disables ability to charge and I haven't figured that out yet as Id like to try and use solar to charge while in ready while parked tho...
     
  4. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2013
    3,606
    1,270
    1
    Location:
    NY
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Don't hold me to this, since I couldn't build it anyway. I've always thought that a complex series-parallel configuration where some modules would charge while others would either lay dormant or discharge would be an interesting ( complex ) way of speeding up charge and / or charging/discharging asynchronously. Or in both directions simultaneously without waiting for a status message. If it's in use I'm pretty sure it proprietary.
     
  5. AJ88

    AJ88 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2021
    7
    1
    0
    Location:
    Sacramento, CA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Hey Brandon,

    I know this discussion was over a year ago and I was wondering if you had any progress in your experiment? Honestly, I get what you are saying and it seems anyone on the internet doesn't read. They just want to talk and not answer the question being asked.

    I am currently attempting to do the same thing you were talking about. Except, I am not using another Prius battery. From my research, as long as you don't touch the OEM wiring, temp sensors etc. you should not throw a code. My setup is a total of 12x 14s packs. I plan to run a total of 56s3p. So 3 parallel sets of 56 cells. I plan to break them down into 4 sets of 14s in series to try and match each of the 4 packs in the OEM battery. I am stuck on whether to purchase 3x 56s Battery Management Systems (BMS) or 12x 14s BMS. I plan to use the same liquid cooled aluminum cooling plates (from donor car) running on a dc pump connected to a small radiator.

    It is definitely doable. Dr. Prius did a similar experiment with a smaller pack for a short term just to test to see if it is possible. He did it without throwing any codes, as far as I saw.

    Please let me know if you made in progress in your experiment.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,658
    49,371
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i'm sure people would like to answer the questions, but when something has never been done before, there isn't a large body of information available.
    someone like jack and his crew at the lithium project are quite unique, and there processes are not open to discussion.
     
  7. GoodOldBob

    GoodOldBob Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2023
    54
    21
    0
    Location:
    Mena, AR
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius
    Model:
    L Eco
    Actually, your reasoning sounds valid and I'm pretty sure you would get an increased range using a second parallel battery pack...it might not be doubled, but increased at least. People have been "hot rodding" their cars for close to a century without engineering degrees and with varying success. Good luck on the project if you actually take it on.