Most NiMh hybrid HV batteries are series circuits of six ( 6 ) individual NiMh cells making a larger one. See pictures of Prius cell. You can see the six sub chambers in the Ebay ad. Look at pleats in shiny metal.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Prius...fa26ed&vxp=mtr

A Prius I believe uses 34 of these pictured above. Each individual sub cell is roughly 1.2 to 1.25 volts nominal charge charged up for 7.2 for the one in the picture.

GM 2 Modes use 40 of these and yes they are interchangeable. The 34 in Prius are then series connected. So if just one sub cell goes bad... the whole pack can go down.

 

when you mean interchangeable, we can get a prius one and use it in the GM? would there be a stockpile of these in the blackmarket? made in china as well as fake ones? I wish there would be aftermarket producers that can sell these cells and a diy can be made to make the desirability of the SUV hybrids even better in the long run.

 

The pack assembly won't interchange but many other sub components will. You can put Prius cells in 2 Mode and vice versa. Several Panasonic HV battery components are interchangeable between them. The orange safety disconect is one too.

I would not trust any aftermarket cells. Panasonic seems to have the secret NiMh recipe down cold. Others just don't hold up like Panasonic. Ask the Dewalt hand tool guy about that.

Panasonic cells are top world class quality that's why they are seling on Ebay for $35 each, used! 34 in a Prius = $1190. 40 in a GM = $1400. That's just for the cells.

A new 40 cell GM pack is about $2500 with trade in of the old one. Another $1100 or so to not turn in the core.

A word of caution for the DIY guys. The packs have as many as 20 volt meters connected to two cells in series circuit. Like the Ebay link shows they are about 7.2V each. So 2 connected to their volt meter will make 14.4V. The battery pack computer measures all those volt meters to see if any individual weak cells are in there. Back to the Dewalt again here. It probably has one "sub cell" that is bad and that brings the whole pack down.

In a GM hybrid pack, the dealer can read those 20 volt meters with his scan tool. So any individual weak cell can be found within a pair.

So if a DIY guy builds his own pack... the cells ALL need to be of near equal performance or "Sky-Net" will catch on and the system will notify you or let you use OnStar for a tow.

 

I test batteries by putting my tongue to them and feel the tingle, or lack thereof ... I assume this is a sound strategy here too.

 

does gm use a specific scan tool? I know that my mitsubishi, a voltmeter is enough to check for codes. normal would show a continuous sine wave. I tried to ask dealer for a print out of the scan-for codes of my hybrid and all they did was print me a typed copy of paper saying no codes found?

 

I bet the 325 Volt at rest on the 2 Mode will provide quite a "tingle".

 

The Tech 2 or the replacement MDI can get those but only when thr special functions are selected.

Some of the Scan Gage guys may have cracked the code by now.

 

Hillbilly. I love your responses. Your pretty funny. Can I test my escape battery with the tingle test. How many hairs on my head should stand up if my voltage is correct.

 

Winchester posted this in the scangauge thread:

For all of the following Hybrid battery volts, you can check the voltage of each individual cell. This would help you find a problem with the battery early on. Each one should be about 16.7 volts when charging or not in use (it seems to always be charging or using - never idle) and about 14 volts under load (battery mode or hybrid mode)

Hybrid Battery 1 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240E4
RXF: 0462854006E4
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B01

Hybrid Battery 2 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240E5
RXF: 0462854006E5
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B02

Hybrid Battery 3 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240E6
RXF: 0462854006E6
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B03

Hybrid Battery 4 (Volts)
TXD: 07E722410B
RXF: 04628541060B
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B04

Hybrid Battery 5 (Volts)
TXD: 07E722410C
RXF: 04628541060C
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B05

Hybrid Battery 6 (Volts)
TXD: 07E722410D
RXF: 04628541060D
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B06

Hybrid Battery 7 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F0
RXF: 0462854006F0
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B07

Hybrid Battery 8 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F1
RXF: 0462854006F1
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B08

Hybrid Battery 9 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F2
RXF: 0462854006F2
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B09

Hybrid Battery 10 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F3
RXF: 0462854006F3
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B10

Hybrid Battery 11 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F4
RXF: 0462854006F4
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B11

Hybrid Battery 12 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F5
RXF: 0462854006F5
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B12

Hybrid Battery 13 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F6
RXF: 0462854006F6
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B13

Hybrid Battery 14 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F7
RXF: 0462854006F7
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B14

Hybrid Battery 15 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F8
RXF: 0462854006F8
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B15

Hybrid Battery 16 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240F9
RXF: 0462854006F9
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B16

Hybrid Battery 17 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240FA
RXF: 0462854006FA
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B17

Hybrid Battery 18 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240FB
RXF: 0462854006FB
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B18

Hybrid Battery 19 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240FC
RXF: 0462854006FC
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B19

Hybrid Battery 20 (Volts)
TXD: 07E72240FD
RXF: 0462854006FD
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B20

Hybrid Battery 21 (Volts)
TXD: 07E722414A
RXF: 04628541064A
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B21

Hybrid Battery 22 (Volts)
TXD: 07E722414B
RXF: 04628541064B
RXD: 3008
MTH: 000100010000
NAM: B22

 

any link of the particular scan guage equipment? Price?