biododge1

i was wondering. i need new batts for my hybrid-120 of them to be exact. my problem is this, the existing batts are 1.2v each.Honda wants $3,211.00 for new ones . could i run 1.5v batts instead? the only down side i see to this is the 1.5s wont charge to 100%, maybe 90%? the total system voltage is rated at 144v. can this be done? AND without destroying something electrical? any help is appreciated, as i don't Want to shell out a ridiculous amount of cash to honda. also, honda is telling me that THEY have to put in the batts, and will not sell me the part outright. i do understand about dealer only parts, but isn't there a law the says that they have to sell me parts and i can repair at a place of my choice[or my self]? if so I'd love to slap'em in the face with that

Begle1

Well, with 120 1.5 volters you'd have 180 volts instead of 144 volts... Low voltage probably wouldn't hurt anything, but it wouldn't work too well. All you're fancy electronics that control regenerative braking and charging time probably wouldn't like it.

On another note, a regular Civic coupe with a 4 cylinder and manual transmission gets 30 miles to the gallon. 3,211 dollars at 3 dollars a gallon and 30 miles to the gallon... 32,000 miles. A non-hybrid could have made it 32,000 miles on those batteries.

How many miles did you make it on those batteries?

Fronty Owner

NiCad batterys are 1.2 volts per cell. to get to your 144Volts DC, at 1.5 Volts/cell, you would need 96 cells.
Lead Acids are 2.1 volts per cell, That would be 69 cells (almost 11 car batteries.)

biododge1

230,000 miles on the batts.

Jeff in TD

Lead acid batteries need to be brought up to full charge occasionally, or they won't last long. Charging a 180 volt bank to 144 would probably be bad. Also, who knows how the rest of the vehicle's systems would react to a change in battery type...

Looking around on the internet, I don't think the aftermarket has started producing parts for most hev's, since the bulk of them are still under warranty.

Are the cells marked with any numbers or brand? Perhaps searcing those could lead to a supplier...

biododge1

that's one part of my problem. to access the batt pack is almost like pulling a motor. not that it's really hard but very time consuming. as for the batts, i schould have mentioned that they are nimh batts. and rumor has it that each cell is the size of a 'd' cell batt. as for the batt manufacturer i may have to pull the pack, hopefully there is something other than a honda # on them

Jeff in TD

In goofing around in the internet, I saw a page that indicated that Sanyo supplies VW.

http://www.sanyo.co.jp/koho/hypertex...1/0131-2e.html

This would indicate Ford also uses Sanyo NiMH, which sound like they may be plain D cells...

http://avt.inl.gov/pdf/hev/escape2005hevamerica.pdf

Finally, I found a page that talks about Hondas, which also mention Sanyo.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=2

From the specs I found there, it would appear the cells might be Sanyo KR-600AE's... but that's just a guess. Weight is similar (spec on Honda sheet might include tabs), and capacity is a bit higher (but they might be rated differently).

http://www.maxxprod.com/mpi/mpi-7.html

http://sanyo.wslogic.com/pdf/pdfs/KR-600AE.pdf

BTW, what year/milage is your car? I thought those things had a pretty long warranty on the batteries...

DrDiesel

For that kind of money, I would build my own cell pack with Panasonic batteries. Use your old pack as the design setup and housing without changing anything but the battery packs.
Buy matched batteries and a good high temp solder gun and use 100% silver solder. Flash solder the packs and stick it to everyone....
You can buy good batteries at Thomas distributing or a local hobby shop. Buying a quantity should get you a lower price. But at $3200.00 from Honda you could build 5 packs.
I bought some high end cells in a 6 pack for 33.00.
You need 120 cells. 120 divided by 6 = 20 times 33.00 = 660.00 bucks plus tax. I would bet if you buy 20 they would drop the price for a quantity purchase.

Jeff in TD

If my guess that they are KR-600AE's is right, the 2nd link I posted has them at $2.25 each, or $2.50 with tabs already on... so 120 of them would be $270 or $300.

biododge1

thanks for all the help everyone the links provided showed just what i need, sanyo batts.-same as the accord. wow i feel way better, 3200$ was just nuts to me- i knew someone here would have an answer. i owe ya guys a case of brewskis

H2SRDMB

sorry if im late. i have a few friends that are way into modding and fixing thier hybribs and electric vehicles. i can give them a ring and see if they can help. hopefully i can get them after 8 pm pst.

biododge1

mods for mpg? those results would be interesting to see. i'm waiting to see someone get 100mpg - in a long trip

Jeff in TD

Keep in mind that the sanyo KR600ae thing is just a guess... since it's the standard Sanyo that has the closest specs to what the page listed for Hondas...

biododge1

in the link you provided they showed specs for the accord system. it's the same one in my insight. i don't know how/where you found those links, but my hats off to ya bud oh, as for the car, it's a 2000. got 230,000m on it. i did find a link that honda will warranty the batts up to 150,000m.

Jeff in TD

Well, I'm glad you found the info useful.

I've learned so much from reading what other folks post here, it would feel good to have posted something that someone else found helpful...