RX400h Hybrid Battery voltage ?

[vette]

Hi all,

 

I am considering a RX400h

Does any one know what the overall voltage is of the hybrid Battery pack?

I understand that to charge the Battery, this is done by way of running the engine.

Under stop / start conditions, at what speed does it stop running on the Battery pack, and the I.C. engine cut in?

If I was in continual slow traffic of say, 5 mph to 10 mph, how far would one expect to be able to drive just on the Battery pack?

 

Thanks for any replies.

 

vette

[sorcerer]

Not sure about your other questions but this is the second hit in Google when I just searched for "RX400h traction Battery voltage"

 

 

[julian1969]

Overall voltage - istr 350v or something like that...

Battery is charged by running engine or regenerative braking - running the motors in reverse driven by road wheels on coast 

Stop start - this is difficult to describe - I've run on Battery only at 80mph (slight downhill) and I've been doing 5mph and had the engine running (cold - need engine warm to run heater or traction Battery low)

range on pure Battery is 1 - 2 miles.

 

Driving a hybrid or electric car is all about anticipation and gentle inputs to get the best out of the Battery side. Accelerate slowly, coast lots, don;t accelerate uphill if possible, etc. and the Battery will be your friend with high 30's low 40's mpg. Drive it like you stole it and, although fun, you'll barely brake 20mpg.

 

 

 

[Britprius]

1 hour ago, vette said:

Hi all,

 

I am considering a RX400h

Does any one know what the overall voltage is of the hybrid battery pack?

I understand that to charge the battery, this is done by way of running the engine.

Under stop / start conditions, at what speed does it stop running on the battery pack, and the I.C. engine cut in?

If I was in continual slow traffic of say, 5 mph to 10 mph, how far would one expect to be able to drive just on the battery pack?

The battery has a nominal voltage of 288v. This varies with the level of charge, but it is not charged above 80% of capacity or discharged below 40% of capacity. This is done to greatly extend the cycle life of the battery. The battery voltage is boosted up to 650v 3 phase variable frequency AC to drive the electric motors. It is also reduced to 48v DC for the power steering, and 12 volts to charge the 12v battery. The car has no alternator, and no conventional starter motor. The engine is started by the traction battery, and one of the electric motors in the transmission.

The basis of the hybrid system is not to see how far you can drive on electric only as this is the most inefficient way to drive the car.

All the electricity comes from petrol used. So running the engine to drive the car, and produce electricity that then has to be stored  then use to drive the electric motors is inefficient because of the losses at every stage. Getting the electricity from "regen" coasting on downhill sections of road, and braking is what the system is designed to do instead of with an ordinary car the engine is spun when coasting wasting energy, and heat is produced in the brakes when braking again wasting energy.

The energy recovered is used to help get the car moving "the time when most fuel is normally used" and to assist in light throttle situations. The engine can and will shut down, and stop completely when you take your foot off the accelerator at any speed.

John

Thanks for any replies.

 

vette

 

[vette]

Thanks all, esp. John.

Most informative reply

 

So there is really no way to externally charge these batteries?

Vette

[Farqui]

Hybrid Battery Solutions have a product to boost/condition? the Battery from the mains. He's also a forum member ;)

[Britprius]

As Lee above said Hybrid Battery solutions do make a conditioning charger, but charging the Battery to save fuel is not what it is for.

The Battery holds at normal full charge "80% actual charge maximum" around 800 watt hours of usable electricity"

The car dependent on driving conditions takes around 500 watt hours to travel one mile so you may be able to drive along a flat road for 1.5 miles. At that point the engine would have to start to keep the car moving, and also make electricity to bring the Battery up to a reasonable level of charge. This would negate any saving made from the charging of the Battery off the mains.

The cars computer controls how and when the Battery is charged, and discharged it does this very well. I do not know if the RX400H has an EV (electric vehicle) switch on the dash. If it does the only reasonable time to use it is if you wish to swap cars round on a driveway when the engine is cold. This saves a cold start on the engine a time when a lot of fuel is used and lots of pollution occurs 

John.

[vette]

1 minute ago, Britprius said:

As Lee above said Hybrid Battery solutions do make a conditioning charger, but charging the battery to save fuel is not what it is for.

The battery holds at normal full charge "80% actual charge maximum" around 800 watt hours of usable electricity"

The car dependent on driving conditions takes around 500 watt hours to travel one mile so you may be able to drive along a flat road for 1.5 miles. At that point the engine would have to start to keep the car moving, and also make electricity to bring the battery up to a reasonable level of charge. This would negate any saving made from the charging of the battery off the mains.

The cars computer controls how and when the battery is charged, and discharged it does this very well. I do not know if the RX400H has an EV (electric vehicle) switch on the dash. If it does the only reasonable time to use it is if you wish to swap cars round on a driveway when the engine is cold. This saves a cold start on the engine a time when a lot of fuel is used and lots of pollution occurs 

John.

Thanks again

 

However I can use free electricity at work to charge said batteries.

Work is 3 miles away.

So this is an option I am thinking

[Britprius]

The conditioning charger is designed to fully charge the Battery to balance charge all the 240 cells that it comprises of. This is perfectly ok for that purpose. The down side is that if you do this on a daily basis you are fully cycling the Battery every day twice. The Battery has an expected full cycle life of 800 to 1000 cycles so you would be likely to get Battery failure at around 1 years use.

This is the reason the Battery is only charged to 80% of capacity, and discharged to 40% maximum either way. Mostly it spends it's life in very shallow cycles at around 60 to 70%. This increases it's life span to 10's of thousands of cycles.

John.

[Britprius]

For commuting purposes the car for you would be a plug in Prius as this has a range of around 13 miles on electric only, and over 100 mpg in blended (normal hybrid mode) to remove range anxiety on longer runs. You would also save on road tax as the Prius road fund is zero.

John. 

[Britprius]

Sorry for multiple replies, but another thing to consider. If the RX does not have an EV switch you do not have any say in when the engine will drive the car. It will always drive the car from cold. Hybrids do this to get the engine hot as soon as possible to reduce emissions.

Only when the engine, and catalytic converters in the exhaust have reached optimum temperature will the car run on electric only, and that is unlikely in three miles.

With cars fitted with an EV switch you have to operate the switch in the time between the hybrid system going to ready, and the engine starting. If the engine starts it will not let you go into EV mode untill the engine is warmed up.

John

[TDIguy]

On 11/13/2017 at 9:45 AM, vette said:

Hi all,

 

I am considering a RX400h

Does any one know what the overall voltage is of the hybrid battery pack?

I understand that to charge the battery, this is done by way of running the engine.

Under stop / start conditions, at what speed does it stop running on the battery pack, and the I.C. engine cut in?

If I was in continual slow traffic of say, 5 mph to 10 mph, how far would one expect to be able to drive just on the battery pack?

 

Thanks for any replies.

 

vette

OEM Battery Specifications:
Manufacturer: Panasonic
EV Battery Type: Nickel Metal Hydride
Rated Capacity: 6.5 Ah (C/3 rate) - 1.872 kWh
Nominal Pack Voltage: 288 VDC
Nominal Cell Voltage: 1.2 V
Number of Cells: 240