Prius complete power plant changeout: Going Full Plugin-EV!

You might want to check with the DMV to see if you can even license such a beast.

 

I didn't see it was your first post, welcome to Prius Chat..

Even if it seems like most don't agree with you doesn't mean we won't help you in any way we can.

As you get older it seems as though your glass is more half empty.

 

I think a better project would be to convert the Hybrid drive into an off gird power solution. I remember reading somewhere about someone who left their Prius in Ready Mode in the winter when they took a trip by airplane. Two weeks later when they returned the car still had a partial tank of gas. The Hybrid Drive is very efficient.

 

I met a guy named Matt that works on teslas, mostly software to my understanding.
I hope I'm not hyjacking this thread by asking for some more info concerning 18650 and/or tesla pack issues.

I personally have no experience hacking anything other than stock and that's just trying to repair abominable service issues
and only being partially successful with the more difficult ones I've had.
I have met a few people that have done some IMO amazing hybrid hacks and I'm really interested in the subject.

 

I would go to diyelectriccar to ask questions, the EE’s and other engineers there can explain (I’m just an ie that has owned an antique EV many years)

18650’s are a tool for a specific job like anything.

As for issues many people want to buy new 18650’s sometimes out of the hobby market, these cells have very wide variation and very poor quality and end up costing much more than a wrecked EV pack

If lithium cells vary and aren’t perfectly matched you need a very good bms or risk fire as 18650’s are the least stable chemistry and can never be over or under charged even once.

18650’s out of a Tesla are better but buy their nature require many man hours to reconfigure, soldering/welding thousands of tabs, messing with cooling structures and also require a complex BMS thermo management system

That said if you have the proper equipment and skill to weld safe high amperage connections 18650’s work well for small low voltage packs like for an ebike

But it takes a special kind of crazy to safely build and test a EV sized pack of expensive 18650’s (18650’s are never cheaper than prismatics)
It’s just that most people, even those with the skill prefer big prismatics because they value their time. (Who wants a pack that might fail every 3 years)

At the end of the day there are really no advantages with 18650’s and few converters use them.

The only time they make sense in a hobby car is when you need a small lightweight very expensive low capacity drag racing pack but even then the “volt cells” have been found to perform almost as well while having a much better lifespan with much easier connections.

 

Yeah I understand about the 18650 market, especially the chinese knockoffs using smaller batteries inside an 18650 case. I've also seen a vid of lithium burning. Not something you want to be around if there is enough of the element in the area.
I was especially curious if you were going to mention the p/s config or module interaction of the tesla pack. After all it is the fastest charging pack publicly available to the best of my understanding. And if I understood why it can be charged so fast (even having 2 chargers on board the tesla it's still fast for a pack that size, currently ) I'd be ordering more 18650 and 26650 high drain cells ( from trusted vendors) and doing my own small packs

 

Just because other companies don’t fast charge their batteries doesn’t mean they can’t.

A Chevy volt battery 16kwhr can be charged up to about 60kw or almost 4c if your at the right temperature anyway.

That really isn’t any slower than Tesla.

There are 3rd parties trying to bring QC to the Gen II Chevy volt but from an OEM perspective quick charging adds cost so why bother?

 

so you know how to read a map. I was just pointing out that it is possible to do a homemade ev conversion. and smog laws don't apply to cars with no ice. considering the number of custom cars and radical choppers in cali, the state govt is the least of op's hurdles to make this happen.

 

Here's another suggestion. Take the insurance money and additional funds from parting out the Prius and buy this used Leaf for $4400: 2011 Nissan Leaf SV For Sale In Los Angeles | Cars.com

These original packs, most likely, will need attention sooner or later so direct your "modding itch" to that issue.

 

Yep.
Good Luck, even though I don't think the best possible end result here is really worth the work and time, if you want a project? Well there you have it.
I admit I can't help. I usually put the batteries in the flashlight upside down.

 

I'm trying to do something similar with my prius also
Search

https://priuschat.com/index.php?threads/194369/

Frankenstein Prius

 

one and done? took back my 'like'.