Where are all the Hymotion purchasers?

[dpguest]

I see only the two threads on the installed Hymotion battery systems. I would have thought there would be many more by now. It is now September. Weren't they starting to install early in July?

Are they really delivering?

I would love to see comments by an ordinary driver with one installed. The guys trying to break the world record for MPG are great... but us ordinary folks would like to know what the 10K $ investment does to one just using the Prius the way it was designed. You know, trips to the grocery, work, etc.

Does it up the average mpg to about 70mpg with a wide variety of driving?

Do the Google.org statistics hold up for the average user?

thanks for any comments...and have a nice day....

[boxer93]

Hi dpguest,
Not sure where the others users are. I expect that many of these installations are for companies, municipalities, etc. Also the initial deliveries were delayed by one month. The $9995 price is pretty high for the average driver. I don't consider myself one for trying to "break an MPG record", but I do want to get the best out of the L5 and the car.
Yesterday I put 18 miles going to the Hardware store, garage (to ask about sliming my tires) get a haircut and the grocery store to get a salad for dinner. I don't have an EBH (yet). The car was shut off between each of these trips. SGII showed a 111MPG Average for the day. Today I tried EV mode in a few short trips(successfully) and then late in the day had to drop off and then pickup my daughter at her FFA meeting. The L5 ran out of juice and the last 13 miles were run in normal Prius mode. Today's total miles 40.5 Miles MPG Avg was 97.5. Also I don't know what is the real mileage with the SCII bug and the MFD will not display the actual MPG. Since I fit the profile of commuting <26Miles a day (actually 21.2) to get an accurate MPG I will wait until I fillup the tank. Which I expect to be about 10 weeks since I had the install on 8/26/08.
I don't have statistics for my commute since I didn't have the SGII the last time I commuted. I believe that the more highway miles the lower the MPG will be. I must say that I am very impressed with how the L5 handles SHM once the ICE is warm.
I hope this helps a little.
Chris

[dpguest]

Thanks ... that's the kind of info that I am looking for ... and hope more is on the way...

[Dozzer]

How does the aux battery affect the electric motors? Don't they overheat or run hotter ? I guess they were never designed to be run for long under pure electric mode.

[tochatihu]

Prius' electric motors are liquid-cooled. If their temperature goes out of bounds, the system is supposed to throw a code and stop (you) before damage is done.

Hymotion (and other) Prius PHEV conversions spoof the battery management computer to play nice with the larger battery, but they do not interfere with thermal management of the electric motors.

[Dozzer]

Originally Posted by tochatihu

Prius' electric motors are liquid-cooled. If their temperature goes out of bounds, the system is supposed to throw a code and stop (you) before damage is done.

Hymotion (and other) Prius PHEV conversions spoof the battery management computer to play nice with the larger battery, but they do not interfere with thermal management of the electric motors.

So does the Hymotion actually "charge" the stock battery pack so it appears to the electronics that nothing is amiss ?

I guess the hymotion battery doesn;t benefit from regen braking.. that would be the next logical step.

[Zythryn]

I haven't posted any reviews as I am really not very good at keeping detailed records and don't have Scangauge, so I can't give mileage above 99.9mpg.
The Minneapolis instal had done 6 prior to mine. They did get a late start, but things seem to be running smoothly now. When I picked mine up last Friday morning they had two more they were working on
On the initial trip home I averaged 75mpg over about 70 miles.
With a 27 mile round trip Sunday (all city streets) I topped out at 99.9mpg (that is the day I ordered SG). And local commuter store trips <9 miles have all maxed out at 99.9mpg.
I don't have a full EV switch option. Thinking about getting that mod, but as of yet, I will just be happy with the extra battery.

The hymotion pack does not benefit directly from regen braking. There is a company in CO doing conversions. With their plan, they actually take out the stock battery and replace it with a larger Lithium battery. So their battery does benefit from regen braking. However, I believe the cost is around 25k and is only done locally in CO (they will ship your car to you).

[boxer93]

Zythryn,
Nice to see another consumer with the kit. You may want to wait on the EV switch. I have only found one time that I wish I could have used it, since I had the L5 installed. It was the day after the L5 ran out and the car would not enter EV mode automatically until the ICE was fully warmed and I was able to stop the car at a stop sign. At that point the L5 entered EV mode and worked 'normally' again. Once you get the SGII you can set an xgauge to see EV mode(as well as many other stats). Also I don't use the SGII while driving. Only to check the stats when I stop.
Chris

[SVPriusFan]

Originally Posted by tochatihu

Prius' electric motors are liquid-cooled. If their temperature goes out of bounds, the system is supposed to throw a code and stop (you) before damage is done.

Hymotion (and other) Prius PHEV conversions spoof the battery management computer to play nice with the larger battery, but they do not interfere with thermal management of the electric motors.

Just an FYI - I spoke with Erin at A123 earlier today about my install and asked her about this...just wanted to be sure that there was no possible issue with electric motor overheating due to lack of coolant circulation during extended periods of non-ICE use. She said that the installation of the L5 pack in no way interferes with the cooling of the engine components. In other words its as safe as the Prius is in its stock configuration (just MUCH better mileage). No worries

[mingoglia]

Originally Posted by SVPriusFan

Just an FYI - I spoke with Erin at A123 earlier today about my install and asked her about this...just wanted to be sure that there was no possible issue with electric motor overheating due to lack of coolant circulation during extended periods of non-ICE use. She said that the installation of the L5 pack in no way interferes with the cooling of the engine components. In other words its as safe as the Prius is in its stock configuration (just MUCH better mileage). No worries

I'd imagine if you had your motor fail Toyota may not cover it with the conversion as they could use the argument of the electric motor not designed for extended use as the primary source of locomotion. I'm playing devil's advocate here because I've never heard of a single motor replaced on a Prius so I doubt this would ever happen...but just throwing that out there.