acmotor wrote: I'd just re-instate/replace/upgrade the battery pack and use or re-sell.
Honestly, the prius emotor (even the genII) is almost not worth considering as EV only. The stated peak kW is rather optimistic and the achievable continuous kW must be down around 10kW or less. This in a 1,500kg or so EV (more if you ad more batts) is not very useful.
Keep in mind that the electromechanical nightmare was tuned for hybrid operation.
If you were thinking a conversion, then ICE out... new motor/controller/battery pack would be all you would need !![]()
It seems to me that when something like this comes up, there are three reasonable possibilities:antiscab wrote: yeh, by conversion i definately meant ditch all the ICE bits.
keeping the e-motor could be good for regen though :p
* Repair the battery, and leave the car as a standard HV (Hybrid Vehicle) (some might say Hybrid Electric Vehicle, but it's really not electric)
* Replace the HV pack (usually really small, less than 1 kWh useable) with a new Lithium or Lead Acid pack, of at least 5 kWh capacity, making it a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Verhicle (PHEV)
* Replace the ICE and HV pack with a large Lithium or other pack, usually at least 15 kWh capacity, making it a full Electric Vehicle (EV). Either the existing hybrid motors could be retained, or also replaced.
Acmotor and antiscab seem to be implying that the Prius motors (especially on the pre-2004 models) are too weak for effective EV or even PHEV operation. I disagree that it's too weak for PHEV operation; the Prius is a fine hybrid, and making it plug-in hybrid in my opinion makes it better. This despite that fact that it likely can't do much electric-only driving: fine, drive it as a hybrid that uses half (depending on distance travelled) the petrol of a HV. It's like a range extended EV where you have to make partial use of the range extender all the way through a drive, not just at the end and only if needed.
As for a Prius as an EV, I think it could be done. The NHW20 model (2004-2009, the most popular model) has a 50 kW MG2 and a smaller MG1. It seems that MG1 is capable of generating some 30 kW, per Section 5.3 of this report (4MB). If these could be combined sensibly, making use of the higher speed range of MG1 (10,000 RPM), this would make a decent EV. From the same report, MG2's continuous power is some 21 kW at 35°C coolant temperature.
However, the Prius is but one example of a hybrid vehicle (though certainly the most common one to date).
What do forum participants think of the various ways that a hybrid vehicle could be converted to "more electric"?