behavior of "EV button" gauge in Hymotion Prius

[Arthur]

I think I asked this question before, but it was part of a longer email and might not have been noticed:

I have a Hymotion system installed in my Prius.

I do not have a separate EV-mode switch installed.

I have an "EV-button" gauge programmed into my ScanGauge. Normally, it displays the word, "ON," or the word, "OFF," which tells me whether my Hymotion system has put me into EV mode or not.

The EV-button (evb) gauge actually seems to have FOUR modes:
1) steady ON
2) steady OFF
3) flashing back and forth between ON and OFF, but spending most of its time ON
4) flashing back and forth between ON and OFF, but spending most of its time OFF

Has anyone else experienced this? I haven't been able to figure out what these "flashing back and forth" modes represent or what triggers them. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Arthur

[TheForce]

Thats normal with a Hymotion battery. Most of the time when the pack is on it and EV engaged it will flash. It has something to do with the spoofing. Why they mess with that bit of information I have no clue. I think I will send an email off to their engineering department to see why that bit is being messed with and if they can change it so that it works properly.

[Arthur]

Originally Posted by TheForce

Thats normal with a Hymotion battery. Most of the time when the pack is on it and EV engaged it will flash. It has something to do with the spoofing. Why they mess with that bit of information I have no clue. I think I will send an email off to their engineering department to see why that bit is being messed with and if they can change it so that it works properly.

No, my "evb" gauge is not always flashing. It only flashes (between ON and OFF) under certain circumstances. If I am in "cold EV mode" (been in EV mode since the car was started), it never flashes. It only flashes if I am in "warm EV mode" (gotten back into EV mode after the ICE has been running) AND a certain sequence of events has occurred. I'm not sure what that sequence of events is, exactly. Often, even after the engine has been running, I get back into the mode where the evb button is NOT flashing. In this case, the car seems to behave the same as if it is in cold EV mode. Maybe it is.

There definitely seems to be a difference between the "mostly ON" mode (with quick flashes of "OFF") and the "mostly OFF" mode (with quick flashes on "ON." I'm not exactly sure what the difference is, yet. I suspect that one of them is some form of EV mode and the other is not EV mode at all.

Do you have trouble changing settings on your climate-control screen? Does it jump back to the energy screen before you can press the buttons on the climate screen? I only have this problem when I am in one of the "flashing back and forth" EV modes. I never get the screen jump when I am in the "steady ON" EV mode.

This EV mode behavior may seem less "normal" to me because I spent a lot of my time driving in "steady ON"/"cold EV mode."

[TheForce]

It has something to do with the spoofed CAN packets the Hymotion battery is sending. I sent an email of to my contact and I'm waiting for a reply.

[Arthur]

Originally Posted by TheForce

It has something to do with the spoofed CAN packets the Hymotion battery is sending. I sent an email of to my contact and I'm waiting for a reply.

Yeah, that makes sense.

The thing that confuses me is that the spoofing is going on whenever the Hymotion system is turned on and has battery power. However, the "EV-button" gauge only flashes (between ON and OFF) SOME of the time.

The thing that makes it worse is this: Sometimes, this happens when the car is warmed up enough that it SHOULD be in "normal" EV mode ...but isn't.

I started this thread because I'm getting really confused between all these different "versions" of EV mode.

It seems that when it is "mostly ON," but flashing briefly to OFF, EV mode is not really active. ...and in many of these cases, it SHOULD be active!

What gives!?

[Arthur]

Originally Posted by TheForce

It has something to do with the spoofed CAN packets the Hymotion battery is sending. I sent an email of to my contact and I'm waiting for a reply.

I think I've figured out what the problem was. It seems like my ScanGauge is interfering with my ability to get into EV mode.

I've been using an active SOC (state of charge) gauge. When I turn that gauge off, I don't seem to have the problem. I'm trying a passive SOC gauge, but it doesn't seem to give the same information.

I'm planning to get a CAN-view system soon. Hopefully, that will allow me to get all the same info (and more) and avoid this kind of problem.

You're obviously right that it has something to do with the spoofed CAN packets. The switching between "ON" and "OFF" (of the "EV button" gauge) happens at about the same rate as the spoofing flashes of the Prius energy display (between Hymotion SOC and Prius SOC).

Fortunately, there appears to be a way to avoid the whole problem, though (just not use the active SOC gauge, or at least turn it off before the car tries to get into EV mode).

Arthur

[TheForce]

I'm not using a SOC gauge on my SG and I still get the EV flashing on and off. I just emailed the guy back and I'm waiting on a reply.

[Arthur]

Originally Posted by TheForce

I'm not using a SOC gauge on my SG and I still get the EV flashing on and off. I just emailed the guy back and I'm waiting on a reply.

Yeah, I spoke too soon. It was wishful thinking. I wanted to believe that I had figured it out. Then, it did it again today, even without the SOC gauge.

[TheForce]

I know if you have the AMP gauge displayed while the Hymotion battery is on the car will think it is doing full regen and you will get 4 cars on each 5 minute bar.

[Arthur]

Originally Posted by TheForce

I know if you have the AMP gauge displayed while the Hymotion battery is on the car will think it is doing full regen and you will get 4 cars on each 5 minute bar.

Yes, and the same thing happens when I use the active SOC gauge. That's one of the reasons why I've switched to the passive SOC gauge.

As I said, I spoke too soon about eliminating my problem of my "EV button" (EV gauge switching repeatedly between ON and OFF (and not really ever being in EV mode). Although that problem still occurs (even WITHOUT the active SOC gauge), I have noticed that I do eventually get into EV mode. With the active SOC gauge, it seemed that I could never get from the switching mode to the real EV mode, no matter how long I drove.

I'll have to try both with and without the active SOC gauge (over a period of several days) and find out for sure whether the SOC gauge is a contributing factor to the problem in any way.

Arthur