Based on your copious experience, do you think that a surplus Prius inverter could be adapted for use as a charger for additional NIMH batteries? Or could the existing onboard inverter be adapted to work overnight charging an additional battery by temporarily replacing current from the electric motor/generator, with line voltage?
Someone here has made their own charger before. In reality to charge a battery all you need to do is supply the battery with a voltage higher than the battery currently is at. The complex part is to not charge the battery too fast or you will damage the cells. You also need to not over charge the battery or you will damage the cells.
Sign up on the prius_technical_stuff yahoogroup and look at the archives. There's a recent discussion about quick-n-dirty DIY charging circuits, with the appropriate caveats. . _H*
Just keep in mind that NimH are pretty finicky about charging, and once you get them charged the car will not automatically recognize and use the added charge. Thats a much more complicated issue (although not insurmountable). Rob
