Continuing the report from the weekend’s work putting Velma the PHEV’s batteries out of sight I’m pleased to report that the physical battery relocation is finished. Velma is drivable again! More after the jump, along with the (almost) finished Prius trunk! Normal PHEV and EV articles will resume tomorrow. Picking up from yesterday’s post –…
Making a PHEV Prius battery pack.
Today we’re taking a step away from the regular www.aminorjourney.com posts and looking at a personal project of mine – Velma, the Plug in Prius.
This weekend the weather has been nice enough to finally take the additional Prius battery packs which have been sitting in Velma’s luggage area and taking up valuable space.
Obviously the above arrangement isn’t great in anyone’s eyes. We need to figure out a more secure and permanent way of storing the two additional Prius batteries.
Read on after the jump to see the new battery arrangement take place.
Second-tank update on the DIY Plug-in Prius
One of the personal projects that keeps me busy is my own plug in car – my 2004 Toyota Prius. I converted the car from a regular Prius to a plug in Prius earlier this year. After a few initial hiccups with a bad battery causing one of the additional battery packs to die prematurely I’ve had a few months worth of plug in hybrid driving. But at the end of the day I have a driveable PHEV Prius, which I have the satisfaction of knowing I converted.
Today I filled up my car after finishing the second full tank of gas since converting the car to a plug in. The last time I filled up was on April 3rd. Today is May 8th. Admittedly, I was away for seven days during this period, but keeping up with this I’ll be only filling up once a month.
More after the jump
First fill up of a DIY Prius PHEV
Those of visit this site regularly will know that one of my personal projects has been to convert a 2004 Prius (affectionately known as Velma) to a plug in hybrid.
The conversion process has certainly not been plain sailing – but that’s been due to my own stupidity and impatience. (Simply put, I didn’t properly check the battery health when I installed a second-hand pack. I learned the hard way and blew one pack up, a few days after installation. £300 later and I was able to re-install a PHEV pack.)
(Video and more information available after the jump)