REVIEW: Hymotion Battery Plug-In Prius

[TheForce]

1. Is this a good choice for me?

If you want to save money then probably no.

If you want to save gas then yes.

2. can i plug it in between trips ( car avg about hr off time between jobs, then drive 10 miles to next)?

Yes you can plug it in anywhere there is an outlet and are allowed to charge. You will gain about 4-6 miles per hour of charging depending how you drive. The max charge will give you about 30-50 miles.

3. do i turn it off for those long hwy trips or leave it on?

Since you have longer trips the best way to use it is to deplete the battery on the highway and pulse and glide in town or when ever traffic allows for P&G

4. at what speed does ice turn itself on ( i do have ev mode and and do now how to use it)?

Thats a long answer. It can turn on at any speed depending on the power demand and if the EV button is being used or not.

With the Hymotion battery faking the SOC at %80 the car will try to stay in electric mode more especially if the coolant temp is >159F

[abra]

Thanks for the answers.

forgot one ?

We camp out in the car durring the summer mo's. we keep the on for the a/c (set @ 74) with a 6' exhaust tub. we avg about 1.5 gallons of gas for a 8hr sleep.

can we plug in for no gas?
has this even been tried out?

[okpenny]

Originally Posted by abra

with a 6' exhaust tub.

What do you mean by 6' exhaust tub? Please explain.

[abra]

Originally Posted by okpenny

What do you mean by 6' exhaust tub? Please explain.

Black tube that attaches to exhaust pipe. to remove exhaust away from car.
some people think that the exhaust fumes might enter into the car cabin over night.
its just for safty

[okpenny]

Originally Posted by abra

Black tube that attaches to exhaust pipe. to remove exhaust away from car.
some people think that the exhaust fumes might enter into the car cabin over night.
its just for safty

Ok Thanks, I thought maybe but wasn't sure.

[TheForce]

Well I had my software updated today. The guy ( Jason ) was only there for about 15-20 minutes to install the update.

I asked him what this update does and he said it lets the engine run when first started so the CAT can get warmed up. It also removes the brake light charging status. It will still light up when you first plug it in but the brake lights will go off shortly. This should help fix the issue we were having with the 12v battery being drained while charging.

After he left I started the car to see if everything still worked. I found out the battery did not turn on at all. I had about a 2 hour charge on the battery before the upgrade. So I turned the car back off and plugged it back in. an hour later I turn the car on again and found that the battery would turn on but the SOC showed only 1 bar. So I think that the SOC needs to be recalibrate. By the time I left for work I had just enough charge to make it to work with 200+MPG. Now my car is sitting out side with a 50% charge but I cant use it until the SOC gets recalibrated. I guess I will have to live with the 60MPG ride home. Hopefully a full night charge will get everything back to normal tomorrow.

Also the manual EV button still allows for EV mode at start up if needed even with this update.

I'll report back tomorrow with some more info if I have any.

[boxer93]

Jay,
Thanks for the update. I need to drive to Westboro to do mine. I've been holding off since I have not reconnected my EV switch. I may splice it in so the Switch and the L5 can both control EV mode. I also hope the upgrade includes a 'delay' connecting, to eliminate the 13 flashes.
Chris

[Flying White Dutchman]

Originally Posted by TheForce

Well I had my software updated today. The guy ( Jason ) was only there for about 15-20 minutes to install the update.

I asked him what this update does and he said it lets the engine run when first started so the CAT can get warmed up. It also removes the brake light charging status. It will still light up when you first plug it in but the brake lights will go off shortly. This should help fix the issue we were having with the 12v battery being drained while charging.

After he left I started the car to see if everything still worked. I found out the battery did not turn on at all. I had about a 2 hour charge on the battery before the upgrade. So I turned the car back off and plugged it back in. an hour later I turn the car on again and found that the battery would turn on but the SOC showed only 1 bar. So I think that the SOC needs to be recalibrate. By the time I left for work I had just enough charge to make it to work with 200+MPG. Now my car is sitting out side with a 50% charge but I cant use it until the SOC gets recalibrated. I guess I will have to live with the 60MPG ride home. Hopefully a full night charge will get everything back to normal tomorrow.

Also the manual EV button still allows for EV mode at start up if needed even with this update.

I'll report back tomorrow with some more info if I have any.

unplug your 12 volt. for e few min.. this wil recalibrate the OEM battery BMS. and set it to 60%

[TheForce]

Its the Hymotion SOC not the OEM SOC that needs recalibrated.

[TheForce]

Every thing is working fine now. The Hymotion SOC is back to normal and you can still go into EV mode at start up if you have a manual EV button. I also noticed that the battery had a few second delay when turning on. This might be a fix for the 13 flashes we was getting if we had a low 12v battery at startup. I will have to monitor this to see if it is in fact delaying the start up of the battery and if so by how many seconds.