Hymotion and 52 MPH EV Mode -

[zcat3]

Hi All - I am having my car serviced at Luscious Garage here in SF today. There are installing a button to allow pure EV to 52 MPH. Apparently this is a hard wired switch and has no impact with the Hymotion pack (as opposed to the EV button which shares a wire with the Hymotion pack and can be troublesome). This is the same mod that Plug-In Supply uses to get 52 MPH EV mode out of their PHEV kit. I will report back on how this works shortly.

[hobbit]

I'll be really interested in hearing exactly what that mod is in
their case, and how much thrashing it takes to correct from the
error state it lands you in once invoked.
.
_H*

[jrmgkia]

Originally Posted by zcat3

Hi All - I am having my car serviced at Luscious Garage here in SF today. There are installing a button to allow pure EV to 52 MPH. Apparently this is a hard wired switch and has no impact with the Hymotion pack (as opposed to the EV button which shares a wire with the Hymotion pack and can be troublesome). This is the same mod that Plug-In Supply uses to get 52 MPH EV mode out of their PHEV kit. I will report back on how this works shortly.

That is very cool, and great you can combine it with your existing Hymotion battery pack. How much does the mod cost?

[ibcs]

Originally Posted by zcat3

Hi All - I am having my car serviced at Luscious Garage here in SF today. There are installing a button to allow pure EV to 52 MPH. Apparently this is a hard wired switch and has no impact with the Hymotion pack (as opposed to the EV button which shares a wire with the Hymotion pack and can be troublesome). This is the same mod that Plug-In Supply uses to get 52 MPH EV mode out of their PHEV kit. I will report back on how this works shortly.

You will love it. I've been using it for a month or so now. I can go around town in pure EV mode. With the ability to go 52 MPH you don't have to feather the gas to maintain EV mode. I usually get about 10-15 miles in pure EV depending on the temperature. I have learned that batteries are much more efficient when they are warm. I would guess that they have twice the power when the temperature is above 50 degrees. I also learned never hit the button when the temperature is below 10 degrees. You can go, but you have no power.

Enjoy, I think it is a fantastic mod. You will need a Scangauge or something to clear the codes as it does light up the dash when you push the button.

---Kent

[zcat3]

Originally Posted by ibcs

You will love it. I've been using it for a month or so now. I can go around town in pure EV mode. With the ability to go 52 MPH you don't have to feather the gas to maintain EV mode. I usually get about 10-15 miles in pure EV depending on the temperature. I have learned that batteries are much more efficient when they are warm. I would guess that they have twice the power when the temperature is above 50 degrees. I also learned never hit the button when the temperature is below 10 degrees. You can go, but you have no power.

Enjoy, I think it is a fantastic mod. You will need a Scangauge or something to clear the codes as it does light up the dash when you push the button.

---Kent

The cost was $246 ($240 labor and $6 for the switch. I had an OEM EV button that I had not installed and they credited me $60 for that, so the total was $186). You do need a Scanguage, as Kent notes, to clear the codes. Basically, in my case, I hit power, wait about 10 -12 seconds (just before the engine starts) and then I hit the EV button. If I hit the button too early, I have trouble clrearing the codes for some reason - Luscious Garage thinks this is caused by the Hymotion pack as they have only seen this happen with the Hymotion cars (I am their third Hymotion car to have this mod installed). Clearing the codes with the Scanguage takes about 5 seconds, and then you are ready to go.

During my test today it was about 55 degrees outside and I drove around Half Moon Bay where I live. My max speed was 50 and at least 12 miles of my driving was on Highway 1, with a speed limit of 45 and several stoplights - meaning I had to accelerate to 45 from a stop about 8 times. Going that speed really makes a difference in battery consumption. I was about to go exactly 16 miles before the Hymotion system turned off and then was able to drive another 1.5 miles in EV mode using the Hybrid battery. My Scanguage showed about 2300 MPG at the end of the trip (which is pretty meaningless as no gas was used).

When in pure EV mode, when the Hybrid battery runs out the car just stops, so you need to pay attention. The other downside is you cannot turn off pure EV without stopping and turning off the car and restarting it. Max EV speed is 52. Luscious Garage installed the EV button next to my Hymotion switch and yesterday driving home from San Francisco I accidentally hit the EV button while on the freeway. Luckily I had just crested a long hill and was on the downhill side and was able to go into neutral to go 60 or so. I pulled off at the first exit and turned off the car to go back to normal Hybrid mode. Had I hit the button while going up the hill I would have been in trouble (it is a very steep hill).

I am now recharging the car and have a kill-a-watt meter hooked up to see exactly what my power usage was. In any case, it seems to be a pretty cool mod as it does give you a pure electric car. 17.5 miles and not a drop of gas used.

[zcat3]

One other note - the Hybrid battery was at the low mark (2 purple bars) when I plugged the car in last night, so it is probably more accurate to use 17 - 17.5 miles for the Hymotion range in my test today as I basically returned the car to the pre-charge state. Assuming it takes about 4.5 kWh to charge the Hymotion battery back up, that is about 260 kWh per mile - does that seem right?

[ibcs]

Originally Posted by zcat3

The cost was $246 ($240 labor and $6 for the switch. I had an OEM EV button that I had not installed and they credited me $60 for that, so the total was $186). You do need a Scanguage, as Kent notes, to clear the codes. Basically, in my case, I hit power, wait about 10 -12 seconds (just before the engine starts) and then I hit the EV button. If I hit the button too early, I have trouble clrearing the codes for some reason - Luscious Garage thinks this is caused by the Hymotion pack as they have only seen this happen with the Hymotion cars (I am their third Hymotion car to have this mod installed). Clearing the codes with the Scanguage takes about 5 seconds, and then you are ready to go.

During my test today it was about 55 degrees outside and I drove around Half Moon Bay where I live. My max speed was 50 and at least 12 miles of my driving was on Highway 1, with a speed limit of 45 and several stoplights - meaning I had to accelerate to 45 from a stop about 8 times. Going that speed really makes a difference in battery consumption. I was about to go exactly 16 miles before the Hymotion system turned off and then was able to drive another 1.5 miles in EV mode using the Hybrid battery. My Scanguage showed about 2300 MPG at the end of the trip (which is pretty meaningless as no gas was used).

When in pure EV mode, when the Hybrid battery runs out the car just stops, so you need to pay attention. The other downside is you cannot turn off pure EV without stopping and turning off the car and restarting it. Max EV speed is 52. Luscious Garage installed the EV button next to my Hymotion switch and yesterday driving home from San Francisco I accidentally hit the EV button while on the freeway. Luckily I had just crested a long hill and was on the downhill side and was able to go into neutral to go 60 or so. I pulled off at the first exit and turned off the car to go back to normal Hybrid mode. Had I hit the button while going up the hill I would have been in trouble (it is a very steep hill).

I am now recharging the car and have a kill-a-watt meter hooked up to see exactly what my power usage was. In any case, it seems to be a pretty cool mod as it does give you a pure electric car. 17.5 miles and not a drop of gas used.

Very typical results and yes, I have hit the button on accident when my hand slipped off the turn signal. I'm not more careful.

Keep posting your results to send them to me directly. I'm glad somebody else is working with the Forced Stealth Mod. By the way, I paid Carolyn's for the information and performed my own installation with the parts they supplied.

---Kent

[hobbit]

Is that implying that you're deliberately not telling us what
the mod does?
.
_H*

[drees]

Originally Posted by zcat3

One other note - the Hybrid battery was at the low mark (2 purple bars) when I plugged the car in last night, so it is probably more accurate to use 17 - 17.5 miles for the Hymotion range in my test today as I basically returned the car to the pre-charge state. Assuming it takes about 4.5 kWh to charge the Hymotion battery back up, that is about 260 kWh per mile - does that seem right?

Yep, that seems about right.

I would be very careful draining the stock battery after the Hymotion gives out. Some people have reported that it can be a bit fickle about deep discharges (like after running out of gas)

[ibcs]

Originally Posted by hobbit

Is that implying that you're deliberately not telling us what
the mod does?
.
_H*

Who is the comment referencing? The mod forces the engine to not run allowing you to use the Hymotion in pure EV mode.