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Prius Battery Replacement (GenII) Like you've never seen - NEW Cylindrical Cells

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by 2k1Toaster, Jul 17, 2017.

  1. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Getting into OOG mode is really easy and documented lots of places. Choose from fancy CANBus methods to the simplest which is just to put a relay inline with the fuel pump power. Flip the switch, no more fuel pump, now you're out of gas.

    The trick, and the part nobody discusses, is how to get it out of OOG mode without a reset. There were some safety discussions long ago. Basically if you needed the power to get out of a situation it wouldn't be there unless you completely stopped, powered the car down, and booted back up. The fancier hacks were able to make it go into the mode and out of the mode by overriding the hybrid ecu when the battery and hybrid ecus were separate. It also allowed for you to enter and exit the mode without warning chimes and lights. Otherwise you'd have the RToD, and problem icon on everywhere. In the Gen3 when they combined the 2 ecu's into one it wasn't possible to fool them independently. So you had to completely bypass one
     
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  2. grhybrid

    grhybrid Junior Member

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    Must be a regional thing, we pay considerably less than that for OE Prius batteries.
     
  3. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Toyota dropped their price very shortly after we started selling these kits publicly. Very coincidental...
     
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  4. Dan GR

    Dan GR New Member

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    I got stuck to 220V once and lived to tell about it, and to know better than to touch fire ever again. So, how much for one all done and ready to install? If you do that of course.
    Thanks.
     
  5. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    after Nissan screwed over their original early adopters by raising the $5,000 replacement pack to $8000 .... too bad your people can't make up batches for those poor slobs - stuck with cars now, that can barely do a maximum range of 40 freeway miles, in many instances.
    This Nissan LEAF Already Lost More Than Half Of Its Battery Capacity: Video
    If that wasn't bad enough for loyal owners - Nissan gave no warning, to the 1,000's who were trying to stretch their lousy packs as far as they can.
    Nissan Quietly Increased The Price of Its LEAF Battery Replacement. What now? | Transport Evolved
    Thank you very much Nissan - for the bad taste in owners' mouths.
    Anyway, this could be a big opportunity for aftermarket pack builders for those people that got the shaft from Nissan. At $8,000? - you could pick up a used leaf for less than that around here nowadays. Maybe Nissan thinks they're going to drive owners into a new Leaf. Haha!
    .
     
    #545 hill, Feb 7, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2019
  6. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    He doesn’t do that, however you might find a mechanic in your area that does.
     
  7. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    We don't do that. But I've had quote from $250 to $400 across various parts of the country from independent shops that do battery swaps that know how to do the kit now. So your all in price would be $1600 + $400 (high end install).
     
  8. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Yep, I have a Leaf as do a few coworkers and friends. For me, it works fine. Even yesterday where I did about 60 miles of highway driving in -20C weather with the heater on it worked fine for a 2013 with 37k-ish miles. Snow tires and loaded with about 500 pounds of Prius batteries :)

    I am looking into making a Leaf kit, but Nissan has really locked down the BMS to the point where it is possible but would require individual module "pairing" between the vehicle and the battery modules. There is absolutely no reason for Nissan to have done this other than to prevent aftermarket and non-dealer repairs and non-OE parts. This was my first Nissan and my last most likely too.
     
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  9. landspeed

    landspeed Active Member

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    The locked-down nature of the Leaf is pretty annoying; I like my Leaf but know it is a throw-away car; once the battery dies, it isn't worth it to replace it. The environmental impact of throwing away the whole car probably outweights any environmental benefit of driving it in the first place (in NZ, most electricity is renewable (hydro + geothermal mainly, some wind turbines)). Interestingly, I am going to be driving my Leaf to get a cheap failed Prius battery pack today!

    Regarding the Leaf BMS, I haven't got round to examining the battery pack (or at least opening the access panels) yet, as it is my daily driver. I am wanting to experiment on it once I finish my Prius 'projects'; the fact Nissan treats it like an iPhone is pretty annoying. I know that even replacing the battery pack requires a trip to the Nissan dealer to 'pair' the new battery to the car. Which is annoying.

    Is anyone aware if there is any 'logic' between the BMS sensors (voltage, current, temp, etc) and the actual cells / blocks? If not, would it be possible to replace all the cell packs with brand new ones? (I guess the 'bars' on the gauge would not reset but that doesn't really matter).

    Regarding the new cylindrical cell packs........
    -> As you import these from overseas (presumably China), is there any possibility that you could get these sent direct from China -> NZ? As I would like to get a set but I can imagine the cost from China -> US -> NZ would be prohibitive.
    -> Do you know, off-hand, if these might be used to fix a Gen 1 Honda Insight battery pack? I have one with a dead hybrid system (one good thing is that they still work with the hybrid system broken); the previous owner replaced the original pack with a brand new Honda pack, then sold it to me 2 years later. The car worked fine for 100 miles then the hybrid system packed in. I have no ill-feeling towards that owner as the car is mint otherwise, and it uses the same packs as the NWH10 Prius which are known to be 'experimental' at best!

    Please PM me if it may be possible to get these packs into NZ. For what it is worth, I will have two spare Prius packs by the end of today, and have some technical knowledge (electronics, computers, mechanics as a hobby, and medicine as a day job). In NZ, there have been many problems with 'reconditioned' packs; there was a company doing recon batteries for NWH10 Priuses, with mix-and-match cells sellotaped together (not even soldered) that got shut down. Other than the dealer, there are no trusted options for replacement packs. So it might be possible to set up an operation here... :)
     
  10. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    I personally haven't done it. But on the MyNissanLeaf forum there have been some people who have tried. The pack itself needs to be paired. Then the cells are packed into modules (as is normal) and each module is paired to the battery. This is the part that sucks. Sure you could rip open the plastic and replace cells but that would be like replacing the 168 cells in the Prius versus the 14 or 28 modules.

    For Honda's, yes it can work. But I am not selling them. The Honda BMS is too aggressive and will kill any NiMH in there. I am not putting my batteries in an environment designed to fail.

    And yes I can send from China to NZ or US to NZ. I haven't mapped NZ but to get to Tahiti it was cheaper to send to the US and then back out in small quantities since we get full containers. PM me if you're interested in becoming a NZ distributor.
     
  11. not_a_prius

    not_a_prius Junior Member

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    it's not the voltage that kills you it's the amps aka current..


    also VDC voltage is much safer then say VAC
     
  12. not_a_prius

    not_a_prius Junior Member

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    how much would it cost for 40 modules. 300 volt system (chevy tahoe)

    it uses the same cells panasonic cells as toyota does..
     
  13. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    You'd need 20 of our modules and a custom wiring harness. Expect it to be in the $2800 area.
     
  14. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Just FYI, we sold out again. Not expecting batteries to be in stock until mid-April. They're currently sailing away across the Pacific.
     
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  15. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Arrived a week early. All pre-orders will be fulfilled and shipped out tomorrow!
     
  16. msg7086

    msg7086 Member

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    Hi folks,

    I'm a 2005 Prius owner and she died with a dead battery a few days ago.

    I've read the whole 28 pages (excluding those argue part in first few pages). I'm under debate whether I'd want to have your brand new battery or a refurb used pack. I'm tight on budget, and I need the car running in a week or two, and I have never worked with car fixing except for replacing the light bulbs. I'm a software engineer and I occasionally do some simple DIY stuff, like assembling / fixing servers etc.

    If I'm gonna go refurb, that's $1600 including installation and 5yr warranty. If I'm in this way I'm paying $1600 for battery only, and then a full weekend to put those stuff in by myself due to short of budget.

    If you are on my shoes, which way would you go? Do you think an almost zero experienced person can properly assemble this without electrocuted / hurt one self?

    Also 2k1 -- do you have any stock for Gen2 battery that you can ship right away? How long would it take to arrive my door?

    Thanks
     
  17. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    5 year warranty is one you are going to use. So expect your car to be out of service a few times unexpectedly. Otherwise a new battery warranty is moot. It's a new battery, it should last as long as the original.

    You need some common sense and to take your time. It only takes about 4 hours. I just recommend a weekend so it doesn't stress you out, and you can take some breaks. We've had lots of customers less technically inclined than yourself successfully complete an install. But if you don't want to do it, there are plenty of mechanics around that I am sure would for a few hundred dollars.

    In stock ready to ship. Order now, out tomorrow. UPS Ground from Colorado, zip 80919. UPS has an estimator online from a zip code to your geographic region. It will tell you how long it usually takes.
     
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  18. James1964

    James1964 Member

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    I'm hoping the Dorman reman that came with this 05 keeps churning along but kinda sold on your replacement already.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  19. msg7086

    msg7086 Member

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    Thanks. I'm planning to do it myself before I change my mind. I'm gonna pick up some hand tools from HomeDepot. A 3/8 ftlb and a 1/4 inlb torque wrench, a few mm sockets, a power drill (which works with sockets), what else should I get as well? Any place I can find a list of tools needed? A quick google didn't get me a good result.

    UPS ground asks 3 days so should arrive by 4/15. I'm planning to sacrifice 2 weekdays for the installation. Hopefully I'll have a good end.
     
  20. kenoarto

    kenoarto Senior Member

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    Have you contacted all your of NJ dealers yet? There are probably several who sell the genuine battery for $1600ish. Add another $600 if you want them to install it and include a nice 3 year Toyota warranty.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.