i've read things about cell balancing, people heading back home when charges run low etc... is the enginer a plug and play kit? what i mean is... could i get it installed and be able to just drive and not have to think of it except upon plugging in at my apartment? what percentage mpg are people seeing? i average 48 with 15-30 one mile trips a week thrown in and if i can offset those and also improve my city mileage quite a bit i might be able to justify it (to my wife)... if it requires quite a bit of additional maintenance... that could be tough on me.
Hi Mike, Not yet, but they are getting much closer. I was getting 45mpg. I drove my 2005 for a couple of weeks getting an average of 65mpg with some trips being close to 85mpg. This was on the first Enginer kit. I did watch the charging and had to manually turn that off. The Kits that were shipped this month have over charge protection in the cells and the initial report I have seen on that is that it works as advertised with no monitoring needed. I have 2 of these new kits and will report on them when I get data. The important part of the process at this point is to get a good installation done from an installer that you can trust to help you if you have questions later. Thanks, Dan
I agree with Dan. Enginer is making improvements, and maybe someday will be plug-and-play, but it is not there yet. If that is what you are looking for, this is not the kit for you. And realistically, the rest of your questions are moot if you are looking for plug-and-play. You will not be satisfied getting 100mpg if it means that you regularly have to monitor your stuff or swap out a bad component. Instead look at something like the Hymotion kit for $10,000. It is definitely top notch plug-and play.
Another 100% "install-it and forget-it"; is CANVIEW +4 family of products but a BIY installation at half the price of Hymot...on. PS; Build It Yourself
Enginer is working on a new charging system that links the battery balancers with the charger to prevent overcharging. I asked Jack Chen about this just a few days ago because I wanted to know what the upgrade cost was going to be. He told me the upgrade would be free for existing customers. So with that in mind, you might consider getting the Enginer kit now, knowing that it would be a fairly easy swap later down the road to put in the new charger.
I still contend that the current Enginer system is not plug-and-play. On a number of the installs I have seen component replacement occur. This means that either the customer will need to attend to it to or have the component replacement done. off topic...mrbigh, can you provide a link to the full kit for the family of products you mention? I looked through the site you mentioned and saw a lot of cool electronics, but did not see things like all the batteries, mounting boxes/brackets, hardware, fuses, wiring etc. Or if there is a thread on PriusChat with this info please point me in that direction. Thanks!
at that kind of price for true plug and play... i think i can be satisfied with 48-50mpg for now. i'll be envious when the LEAF hits the road though...
Hi Mike, I understand your point of view. Just keep an eye on the progress. Things are changing quickly. Thanks, Dan
I think it's going to work very well. I have plan to make my kit plug & play as I can be an idiot at time. It has to be idiot proof. Plus my wife and teenager would not be so careful/anal as I am. My plan: 1. first I have to bottom balance (in progress) 2. then using the Cellog, install a loud annoying buzzer for user switching off during drive 3. rig up a simple one-shot relay to turn off the charger via the cellog when any single cell reaches the trip voltage of 3.75v. The one-shot simply turns off the charger indefinitely, until the car is driven/or reset. I figure that by then the pack is pretty full, of order 80%+, or more. voila: operation is then just to plug in whenever/wherever opportunity avails and to switch off upon alarm during drive one area I am still thinking about is to prolong battery life. With the above scheme, I can set the low/high trigger to keep the pack within 30-80% DOCharge. I think the heat generated by the converter and by the muffler will be a problem come summer time. I notice that there is an air exit flap back left corner of the Prius, I can use that to duct the hot air out. May be a simple solar panel to drive a small dc fan during hot & sunny day; a la 2010 Prius. I am very excited about this kit (Jack had implemented my plan, I was waiting for my 2004 to out of warranty). Cheers,
Hi Mikey, I have 2 systems up and running and they are Plug N Play now. I still need some more time on them to be sure I do not have issues that come up later. I have the February Kits that have overcharge protection internal to the MottCells. This is working great. I have Cell logs added with obnoxiously loud alarms. I have set the upper limits to 3.96v for each cell and 30v for the 8 cells on each balancer. This gives me unattended charging with no danger to any cell. I set the low limit at 2.7v each cell and turn it off when the low alarm sounds. Both cars are getting 80+mpg for 30 miles or so. I have found that I have am learning how to better drive to get the better mileage. PBUI,.. How is your system doing? is it now Plug N Play? Thanks, Dan
Dan - unfortunately I am on travel for work; so my play things are on hold. I have designed an automatic charger shutoff with cheap 4x 12v auto relays, < $3 each. But I am due back until the end of April. I'll implement the relays if Jack hasn't send the upgrade by then. Thanks for your head up about the cellog drawing on cell 1-6; have u email the cellog people about this problem ?
