EV mode only means going to work is pure electric

[havanese_boy]

I just finished installing my coastaltech ev mode only mod.

With their instructions and a printout of a few helpful hints from the forums here, I had it done in 25 minutes and on the first try with only a small scratch on the back of my hand.

For me this isn't just a gimmick to show friends and family, but a way to get to work and back on pure electric.

I live in a small town (18k) and driving to work can be done either by a four lane highway or through a few neighborhoods. Granted the drive is only 5 miles...

I sometimes have to leave work to run errands for the business, so walking to work or riding a bike doesn't work for me and before today, I hated that the Prius would start the engine just to go those 5 miles, when I knew the battery could do it.

So now I can with the EV mode mod installed.

Driving through the neighborhood to test out the mod, it was great to not hear anything but the wind blowing.

The best 50 bucks I ever spent.

[darelldd]

Originally posted by havanese_boy@Mar 18 2006, 12:25 PM

Driving through the neighborhood to test out the mod, it was great to not hear anything but the wind blowing.

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Excellent! Now imagine having that feeling ALL the time, on 95% of your vehicle trips. Having a freeway range of 100+ miles on battery alone. Being able to use full acceleration without the engine. Never having to go to a gas station. Never having the oil changed, or the engine tuned up.

THAT's when we've arrived!

(that said, driving 5 miles on pure battery in the Prius is going to be pushing it! And you sure aren't getting home on without charging at some point).

[Tom_06]

Originally posted by darelldd@Mar 18 2006, 04:15 PM
(that said, driving 5 miles on pure battery in the Prius is going to be pushing it! And you sure aren't getting home on without charging at some point).

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Yes, let us know how far you get in EV mode. I also use the Coastal EV mod and find that I go from 7 bars (green) to 3 bars (blue) in about 1 mile going 20 to 25 mph on residential streets. That is with 3 stop signs and more uphill than down. My guess is that EV will get you about 2 miles unless you have a lot of downhill.

- Tom

[havanese_boy]

Ok my trip has 3 stop signs with most of the trip down hill or level. I made it about 2 miles back before the engine kicked in. I never got above 28 mph and was able to coast at that speed for about a mile for part of the trip there.

[DaveSheremata]

I just installed my EV mod this week too, and I'm blown away. I live about 2 miles from i395, and the cold start in the morning is such a mileage killer. The day that I installed it I did an 19 mile drive and got 59.8 mpg, mixed city nd highway. Knocking out the 25mpg I usually get in the first 5 minutes because of the warmup in "city" streets is a real mileage booster!

Dave

[daniel]

I've had the EV mod since about fall of 2004. I love it. However, let me warn you that driving long distances in EV mode is probably very inefficient, because in the end the engine must recharge the battery, with all the attendant efficiency losses. Your best use of EV mode is when you can anticipate conditions when the car itself would go electric if it knew what was coming. Things like making head room for re-charging before a downhill, or creep-and-go traffic. Driving all the way to work on electric, and then re-charging on the way home, is likely to be less efficient overall.

Also, postponing engine start-up until you reach a highway is likely to be inefficient because the car likes to warm up the engine with minimum load and will use the battery more during the first minute or two of warm-up. If you don't let the engine start until you reach high speed, you'll be drawing down the battery faster, always inefficient.

Enjoy the EV. But remember the basic principle: at high output the engine is more efficient; at low output the electric motor is inefficient; and all electric use must eventually be replaced by the engine, with some efficiency loss.

[jeneric]

Originally posted by daniel@Mar 18 2006, 05:01 PM
and all electric use must eventually be replaced by the engine, with some efficiency loss.

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Yeah, in fact, to me it looks like the ICE has to run almost 3 times as hard to recharge the battery as if it had just been used directly for the power in the first place.

[clintd555]

It'll be nice if you can plug in the battery instead of relying on the ICE to charge it. Then you can really capitalize on the EV mod.

[daniel]

Originally posted by clintd555@Mar 18 2006, 07:05 PM
It'll be nice if you can plug in the battery instead of relying on the ICE to charge it. Then you can really capitalize on the EV mod.

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True, a plug-in hybrid would be the ideal solution. But the 2004-2006 Prius is a poor choice for a conversion, because the electric motors are not powerful enough for normal city driving. The speed and acceleration limits are too low. And the present battery is only good for a mile or two, so plugging it in would be utterly pointless without replacing the battery with a much bigger one. Two companies will do that today. But you still have the power limitations in EV mode.

Cross your fingers for the 2008 (???) Prius to have extended range and bigger MGs with plug-in option. Maybe that's too much to hope for. But I think it's the direction of the future.

[le diable]

Originally posted by havanese_boy@Mar 18 2006, 03:25 PM
I hated that the Prius would start the engine just to go those 5 miles, when I knew the battery could do it.

You think thats bad - I made the mistake of moving within a mile of my office... Most of the time the engine never shuts down during the trip, so I average ~30mpg. Once the temp comes up more I'm definitely going to be riding a bicycle as much as the weather will permit.

At least I can be happy about the fact that I'm still getting better mileage than I would be in my V8 Camaro