Toyota Prius Gen3 Board
The Toyota Prius Gen3 Board is an open source project to repurpose 2010-2015 Toyota Prius inverters for DIY EV use. It consists of a circuit board and programming that replaces the original logic board in the inverter and allows independent control of it without communicating with a Prius ECU.
Note that there is also a Toyota Prius Gen2 Board for the 2004-2009 model years.
Prius Inverter
The Toyota Prius is a hybrid vehicle. Their inverters are suitable and attractive for DIY EVs because of:
- Large part availability. Priuses have been made in large numbers for 20 years.
- High affordability. Prius inverters are available for around $150 from scrapyards everywhere.
- Durability. Toyota engineers appear to have made the inverters foolproof, many inputs and outputs gracefully handle fault conditions.
- Respectable performance. Rated for 50kW output, but tests indicate they can tolerate as much as 300kW
- Ease of repurposing. Emulating the original ECU seems reasonably feasible.
The Gen3 Prius (2010-2015 model years) has a variety of useful components inside the inverter package:
- 2 high power inverters, for the 2 motors MG1 (starter) capable of handling X(?) amps, and MG2 (drive motor) capable of handling Y(?) amps.
- A DC-DC converter to provide 12v power supply to the automotive systems and accessories.
- A boost module to boost the 200v battery pack up to 500v, which looks to be able to function as a battery charger (wish list for future development)
- See this video for a thorough disassembly and explanation of the Gen3 Inverter (Timestamp ???? ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Vm-C4MsW8
Control Board
The current version as of Jan 20, 2020 is v2.
As designed by Damien Maguire, the open source hardware for the control board can be purchased as both partially populated and fully populated and tested boards on his website:
Prius Gen3 Prius Gen3 Full & Tested
The control board is a physical replacement for the OEM Prius Gen3 inverter logic board inside the inverter. Remove the old one and replace it with the new one.
Development History
V1 - This board was sold tested but also as a bare logic board requiring purchase of your own components and SMD placement and soldering skills. https://www.evbmw.com/index.php/evbmw-webshop/toyota-bare-boards/prius-gen-3-inverter-bare-logic-board
V2 - A new board source was found to be both high quality and low cost. The boards were redesigned around the inventory of parts available from this supplier. In particular the high cost of populated and soldered boards (10x the price) from the source used to make the v1 boards is so significantly lower on the v2 that there are likely no savings by building and soldering the board yourself. The circuit now has hardware to support repurposing the MG1 inverter as a battery charger, though as of Jan 20, 2020, software is still in development.
Vendors
- ?? List of known vendors with support?
Support
Community support is available on the Prius Gen 3 Inverter Logic Board Support Thread
You are not entitled to support, purchase from a vendor who offers support if you want it guaranteed. Treat the community with respect.
Inverter Model Numbers
| Inverter No | Car model(s) | Logic Board No | Power Board No | Compatible 50 pin connector | PCB size | Confirmed works with board | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G9200-47141 | Auris 2012, RHD | ||||||
| G9200-47180 | Photo diyelectriccar.com | ||||||
| G9200-47190 | Auris | F1759-52010 04 | ? | Forum Thread openinverter.com | |||
| G9200-52010 | Yaris | F1759-52010 04 | F1789-52010 | 154x143mm | |||
| G9200-52032 | Yaris 2015 | F1759-52010 04 | F1789-52010 | YES | Long 143mm | Forum Thread openinverter.com Forum Thread openinverter.com | |
| G9201-52011 | Yaris | YES | Forum Thread openinverter.com |
Assembly Notes
The Prius Gen3 Board is suitable to control any (please add: motor types here) motors.
Note: Early versions of the board have a few mistakes. (Add details)
Source Documentation:
Bill of Materials (from above)
The control board takes advantage of the OpenInverter.org software for control.