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Enginer kit 4kwh, better in Gen 2 or Gen 3?

Discussion in 'Prius PHEV Plug-In Modifications' started by hampdenwireless, Feb 5, 2011.

  1. hampdenwireless

    hampdenwireless Active Member

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    Which works out better in real life? Does the higher weight of the gen 3 work against the kit or are other factors in the gen 3's favor?

    Can these kits feed enough power for a slow city commute with lots of lights?
     
  2. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    I personally think it works better in Gen III than Gen II because if the inverter puts out too much current, the Gen II will throw a code. The Gen III can take higher current without throwing any codes. The highest current output from my inverter that I've ever seen is just over 18 amps. This is when driving at 43mph stealth. The kit can power the Prius for city commute with lots of lights. I must caution that driving on the kit for a long period of time could cause the converter to overheat and burn out. My last inverter powered my Prius for about 7 miles on electric only before it burnt out. I did a few 0 to 44mph and a few miles of 43mph all on electric over the 7 mile trip home before the converter finally fried.
     
  3. hampdenwireless

    hampdenwireless Active Member

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    The part that burnt out, the inverter, is part of the Enginer kit, right? Replaceable and under warranty?
     
  4. dan2l

    dan2l 2014 Prius v wagon

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    Hi Hampdenwireless,
    Everyone will tell you that what they have is best. I have both and say that both are good, They are just different.

    If you use the stock enginer install both will perform symilarly.

    If you do adjustments to try and get the most you can get then the Gen3 will give a little more until the converter gets hot and throtles itself back.

    If you try to do all EV without spoofing or hacking the Prius then the Gen 2 does better and allowing EV before the warm-up process.

    So they are a little different but both will work well.

    The one real difference I see is that the Gen3 gets better mileage to begin with.

    Thanks,
    Dan
     
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  5. hampdenwireless

    hampdenwireless Active Member

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    Thanks! It sounds like it is the Gen3 for me then. I am going to wait to hear the price of the factory PHEV first, but I think its going to be expensive.