# convering Hybrid to PHEV



## sparkswb6nov (Mar 17, 2011)

Is there any one still interest in conversion of Hybrid to EV/PHEV or is ?? 
thinking of doing it ??


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## hal2000 (Nov 15, 2012)

*The gen1 insight, hybrid, A hobbits tale*

I stànd at a crossroads, squinting down three crooked paths, all of which are garenteed to lead me far from here! In a place of darkness did I find it, yet still did it glow a firey red, and I did covet it and wrestle with the dark one, of slippery words and false promises in his maze of used cars! But he was subdued by twenty of the brothers Grant and we did escape, out of darkness to this place, but now? What way now gentle reader,for my path is unclear! And the one hybrid my steed, stumbles beneath me,weary from a battle of 230,000 miles.

To the North lies purity, On this build it is counseled that I should touch not the tool of the enemy petrol, but instead cast it down it's motor into the fire from which it came, for it was wrought by the hand of otto and can not be bent to our will! Rebuild as pure electric say the elves, for it is the true path! This was my initial intent on finding the one hybrid, but is unlikely,now, for I have journeyed to the library of insight central forum, and learned the history of the hybrid, of its promise and betrayal by great honda who made and then abandoned the true hybrid, and 1,500 Of its brothers! What insight it has wrought in me to see a thing once so strong and full of promise now lame and homeless before me now!

To the South lies gondor and the last of the true mechanics, we will turn the enemies engine against him by replacing the battery w larger enhanced battery with plug in capacity. But yah... (at what cost in business time & treasure,for sweet wife does not love this quest seeking always to turn us from it with talk of ramparts needing painting and such.) 

To the East lies security and past glory, I am told by some to Restore engine and battery only to original, seeking not the glory of gondor's past, or the range anxiety of mt (e) Instead I am told only to Rebuild transmission and existing nickel metal hydride battery with one from bumblebee replacement battery out of Portland Oregon.

The wife has her doubts about each of these paths, and urges a fourth way. To the west, she urges, to the gray havens via Hawaiian airlines, for there will you find peace and quench your thirst for a low carbon future, with an I.C.E. cold margarita.

The one hybrid is still there, its bright red paint chiped but unfaded, this promise,unfulfilled, This forsaken chimera who fought for right when none others would... I will not leave it thus, in need of battery and transmission. I would have it restored to the glory that once made men proud to count themselves honduns!

So the short answer is yes, Yes young Hobbit, there are still people that dream of glory and a low carbon future with a phev , But take care, beginnings are delicate things, you start off going out to window shop at the used car Lot, and next thing you know you are on an adventure!

Any gandaulf's, Balins, or other dwarves out there, want to lend a hand, opinion, sodering iron, or ociloscope? Loc. Olympia Washington


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## Electron Power (Jan 2, 2013)

*Re: The gen1 insight, hybrid, A hobbits tale*



hal2000 said:


> Any gandaulf's, Balins, or other dwarves out there, want to lend a hand, opinion, sodering iron, or ociloscope? Loc. Olympia Washington


I seriously doubt it! For a technically-based forum, I think you are going WAY overboard on being so "poetically philosophical" with you wording. All of those extra words makes it harder to understand exactly what you are saying or asking. You remind me of my mother's husband Bill who has tourrett's. Mentally speaking, the now-retired prof has been perpetually stuck in the middle ages as long as I've know him, and most likely his entire life. He's always quoting this or that famous poet, or something. But technically speaking, he doesn't even know how to turn a screwdriver! It's my opinion that folks with THAT sort of mentality not even consider going DIY on such highly technical stuff.


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## GuySmily (May 11, 2012)

Hey, I enjoyed the read.

I'm trying to make a similar decision, though my Insight is in perfect health.

I could do a PHEV upgrade in the Insight, or convert either the Insight or my MR2 to full electric.

I think I will leave the Insight as-is, since it's the best car for long trips. I'll convert the MR2 to electric and let that be my short range (100mi) car.


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## Electron Power (Jan 2, 2013)

Let me chime back in to say that yes, I am in the process of making it happen on my 1st gen ford hybrid. It is an 06 mariner - same as the escape and tribute hybrids. I was originally planning to add a large cap aux bat to the internal 250 cell NiMH pack. But plans have now changed, becomming split into 2 phases, with phase 1 being the replacement of the 250 internal d-sized NiMH cells, with 100 cylindrical 38x140mm LiFePO4 cells. The initial phase will be happening as soon as I get a deal worked out to acquire the cells, with the 2nd phase either being optional, or happening somewhere "down the road" at my leisure, depending on how the 1st phase works out.

Phase 1 will result in a 10X increase in "usable" capacity, from 400Wh to 4KWh. Basically, the 50 original [matched] 5-cell NiMH "sticks" will be replaced by a matched 2-cell LiFePO4 stick. 2 sticks will then be matched to form 4-cell "strings". The 25 strings are the points where the [stock] battery management taps connect. Aside from this, NO other mods/changes need [to] be applied!

Since there is already a DC-DC up-converter located inside of the stock pack, all that one needs to do for plug-in charging capability is connect a high-amp 12V charger to the under-hood 12 volt battery terminals. But I will be adding a 50A anderson connector in the grill to make for easier access. All firmware in each of the vehicle's can-bus modules will also be upgraded to the latest [2012] versions, in order to obtain higher EV-only speeds, and improved fuel overall economy (in addition to the improvement gained by the battery cell upgrade).


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## T1 Terry (Jan 29, 2011)

Love the wistful ramblings, life is too short to take seriously.
I have a 2008 Prius I bought cheap with 700,000km on the clock, ex Brisbane taxi. It has had the battery pack replace with one from a wrecked vehicle, the ICE has a noisy timing chain, but apart from a few cosmetics and replacement door trims, it's a serviceable vehicle.
So my aim is to add an LiFeP04 battery pack to parallel with the original pack. The reason for not replacing the original with LiFe is the regen charge rate, the original batteris handle it well, LiFe won't, they don't enjoy being recharged that fast.
Now I need to find out if recharging the original pack is just a matter of applying enough voltage to the main terminals, or is there a lot more involved? I want to create an LiFe pack that serves as the PHEV part but also top up the original battery at the same time.
I understand there are companies in the US that already do drop in kits, importing the cells from the US to her would be crazy as freight out of the US is gold plated, but purchasing the wiring harneses etc could be a viable option... but which company?

T1 Terry


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## Riles (Aug 18, 2015)

I'm gearing up to do a PHEV conversion on my Lexus ES300h (Camry/Avalon Hybrid platform).

I found a good deal on a used 4kwh Enginer kit from a Prius. The kit is currently not charging, so I have to wait until I receive it this weekend to figure out what works and what doesn't. I'm hoping that the converter still works (it converts 48v to the 280v needed by the Lexus), but if it doesn't I'm likely going to reconfigure the entire setup to mirror the conversion done by Dusan Latinovic at Priuschat: 99 Converter

The battery I'm receiving is 16s4p, using 20ah lifepo4 cells. The first thing I'm going to do when I get it is manually charge each cell on an RC balance charger to make sure that each cell has proper voltage and capacity. If one or two cells are bad but the converter works, I'll probably just buy replacement cells. If a number of cells are bad and/or the converter is broken, I'm going to think about rewiring the pack as 60s1p and using the efficient converter from the above-linked thread.

I'll start a build thread in the coming weeks to document my progress. I drive 600 miles per week for work so I'll have plenty of real world data to give once I get the kit up and running!



T1 Terry said:


> Now I need to find out if recharging the original pack is just a matter of applying enough voltage to the main terminals, or is there a lot more involved? I want to create an LiFe pack that serves as the PHEV part but also top up the original battery at the same time.
> I understand there are companies in the US that already do drop in kits, importing the cells from the US to her would be crazy as freight out of the US is gold plated, but purchasing the wiring harneses etc could be a viable option... but which company?


You can actually buy the converter used by Enginer straight from China. Check out this thread: Enginer Plan B. The price is roughly $500 or $600 USD. You can supply your own batteries/charger/BMS. This is for the 48v->240v conversion method, which isn't super efficient but is a pretty easy all-in-one solution. The converters aren't super high quality though so it's best to run them at less than full power. Since Enginer went out of business, the supplier in China started selling the parts directly to the public.

There are a few people who did PHEV conversions of a Prius using large nimh batteries with relative success, but I've never been able to locate a good source of nimh batteries at a reasonable cost per kwh. These conversions are the simplest since no electronic magic is required, but they aren't super useful on the highway because the car doesn't use much of the SOC at highway speeds when the pack is below around 70% SOC. The piggy-back method you describe is better for this, because it keeps the SOC higher and the car will use more electric motor to attempt to "burn off" the excess SOC.

As far as charging the prius battery, there are a few methods in use. Your idea of using the LiFe pack to top up the battery seems to be the most widely used approach, although at least one company does a conversion where they put a large life battery in place of the nimh battery so that the regen current isn't so damaging (lower C rate due to higher capacity).

The PHEV subforum at PriusChat is probably your best bet for all Prius-related PHEV info. You can definitely do a PHEV conversion on the cheap now, as long as you have a source for batteries. The nice thing about the 48v conversion is that you can even use lead-acid to get started, or a Chevy Volt module, or a number of other setups.


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