Anyone have photos from inside the Fit EV Battery Case?
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 9:14 pm
Hi everyone, I'm a first-generation Honda Insight owner, and I come to this forum in search of knowledge about Fit EV batteries. The old Insights all have suffered hybrid battery module failure due to their age, but some of us have replaced our old batteries with used Honda Fit EV batteries. The LTO chemistry the Fit EVs use is coincidentally mostly compatible with the electronics the old Insight uses to manage its hybrid battery pack.
The Fit EV battery modules come in pairs of two sub-packs bolted together. Each sub-pack has 12 Toshiba SCiB cells, so 24 cells per module. I'm running a pack that consists of 3 of these modules, so 72 cells, in my 2000 Honda Insight.
Each sub-pack has a circuit board on top (once you pop the cover off) that is connected via CAN bus to the ECM. The connection from each sub-pack to the main wiring harness is done with a little wire pigtail. There's a Honda part number written on the pig tail:
1N311-RDC-A000
This number is similar to some 2017 model year Honda Accord Hybrid wire part numbers. For example, one of its wire harnesses has part number 1N310-5K1-N00. What I'm wondering is if someone could take a photo or two of the wire-harness side of one of these connectors. Sometimes Honda will re-use the same connector across different models of vehicle. The same one may for example have been used in the Accord Hybrid. A couple members of an Insight forum I participate in have gotten the Fit EV BMS (battery management system) to activate and read cell voltages using CAN readers, but they had to solder wires directly to the BMS to interface with it. Using wired connections would be greatly preferred, especially if we didn't have to cut the connectors up.
Some other questions we have about the Fit EV batteries are about how the batteries are cooled, how hot do they get, how are they installed, etc. The modules we've gotten aren't totally identical. Some of them have 4 mounting tabs on each side, others have 5. We don't know the reasons for any differences like that because we've never seen photos of one of the battery cases or photos from inside it or photos of the fans/ducts/etc used for cooling.
If anyone ever took photos like that, or if anyone still has a Fit EV and is willing to take such photos, it would be of immense help to us and we would be forever thankful.
- Natalya from Insight Central
The Fit EV battery modules come in pairs of two sub-packs bolted together. Each sub-pack has 12 Toshiba SCiB cells, so 24 cells per module. I'm running a pack that consists of 3 of these modules, so 72 cells, in my 2000 Honda Insight.
Each sub-pack has a circuit board on top (once you pop the cover off) that is connected via CAN bus to the ECM. The connection from each sub-pack to the main wiring harness is done with a little wire pigtail. There's a Honda part number written on the pig tail:
1N311-RDC-A000
This number is similar to some 2017 model year Honda Accord Hybrid wire part numbers. For example, one of its wire harnesses has part number 1N310-5K1-N00. What I'm wondering is if someone could take a photo or two of the wire-harness side of one of these connectors. Sometimes Honda will re-use the same connector across different models of vehicle. The same one may for example have been used in the Accord Hybrid. A couple members of an Insight forum I participate in have gotten the Fit EV BMS (battery management system) to activate and read cell voltages using CAN readers, but they had to solder wires directly to the BMS to interface with it. Using wired connections would be greatly preferred, especially if we didn't have to cut the connectors up.
Some other questions we have about the Fit EV batteries are about how the batteries are cooled, how hot do they get, how are they installed, etc. The modules we've gotten aren't totally identical. Some of them have 4 mounting tabs on each side, others have 5. We don't know the reasons for any differences like that because we've never seen photos of one of the battery cases or photos from inside it or photos of the fans/ducts/etc used for cooling.
If anyone ever took photos like that, or if anyone still has a Fit EV and is willing to take such photos, it would be of immense help to us and we would be forever thankful.
- Natalya from Insight Central