Coastaletech EV Switch Installed.

Discussion in 'Gen II Prius Modifications' started by BitShifter01, Mar 12, 2005.

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    BitShifter01 New Member

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    Just the other day I finally got my EV Switch form Coastaletech. I couldn't wait so I went ahead and installed it that evening. Overall I found the process to be extremely easy except for the fact it was 25 degrees and the wires on the connector were rock solid and seemed very brittle :)

    I ended up sticking a heat lamp in the car to warm up the wires to make them more manageable. Once warmer I began the install. I had it installed in about 30 minutes after I removed the vent and bottom glovebox. I found it extremely difficult to get my hands in place to splice into the wires and insert the new wire into the connector. The install would of taken a matter of minutes if I could of removed the vent housing.

    The EV Switch works like a charm. It's amazing how much faster I can accelerate while in EV without the motor kicking on. I was always a pro with feathering and making the engine run on EV without the EV Switch. Now it's just cake to run on EV.

    A few observations.....

    The EV button will be very cool when showing the car off to friends. I always hated taking my friends for a ride while the car was cold and never could show off EV mode. Now I can.

    On the other hand I doubt I will use it that much. I've never put such a serious drain on the batteries before. I know a lot of you have said that the gauge really only shows 40%-80% capacity and that the battery is never full or never drained. I know that the EV button is used over-seas (I'm in America of course) and that this installation uses the factory programming, but I'm not sure I really see the benefit of EV other than "It's cool", which it is very cool. Some people say it's great for short trips, but whatever you take out of the battery you'll eventually have to put back in. I just noticed that when the car engages itself back into ICE mode, due to the batteries being low, my car really suffers MPG while it's charging the batteries back up. All-in-all, I feel I get better gas mileage just letting the computer take control and feather when I can.

    Anyone else have any suggestions?
    Don't get my wrong, I am totally happy with my install and product. The geek factor just got better 8)
    Thanks for listening.
    Regards,
    BitShifter
    BitShifter01, Mar 12, 2005
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    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    good post.. i'm almost still tempted to get an EV Mod.... almost...
    V8Cobrakid, Mar 12, 2005
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    BitShifter01 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid\";p=\"71664)</div>
    Thanks...Like I said, the geek factor is nice no matter what! I can see where using EV at slower speeds would be a plus since the engine is pretty inefficient then.

    Regards,
    Ryan
    BitShifter01, Mar 12, 2005
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    Stocky New Member

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    EV mode is a standard fitting here. Not sure of the real benefits other than sneaking home quietly at night or scaring the hell out of pedestrians in the local supermarket car park.

    Not sure about US manuals either - in mine, Toyota has posted a large warning saying that while in EV mode, beware of pedestrians who sometimes look for cars with their ears rather than their eyes.
    Stocky, Mar 12, 2005
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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    I know people have said that whatever you take out will eventually have to be replaced (or recharged in this case) but where I live, hills more than make up for the recharge. Plus, if I have a cold engine running, wouldn't it be better that it's using some of that fuel to charge the battery rather than having a full battery and the engine running, wasting the energy "created"?
    Tideland Prius, Mar 12, 2005
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    hdrygas New Member

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    I still don't have mine yet :cry: I can only bask in your glory. :wink:
    hdrygas, Mar 12, 2005
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    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Read my prior posts on the subject. The last .7 miles of my commute home is somewhat downhill max 30 MPH. I can make that section starting and ending with the same number of bars on the meter. Before I had the EV mod, I could do it but ONLY when there was no one behind me and I didn't 'mind' going 35 down the first section dropping to 25 up the little rise then eggshell light on the flat and the turn. If the engine kicked on for any reason, it would not go off again since most of the time I was not in S4.

    So, there ARE places where you, knowing the terrain, can make use of the mod without paying for it later. However, if you have a 30 MPH 5 mile flat stretch, forcing EV until you get to pink bars isn't going to gain you anything. You have to know you have a downhill coming up or will be stopping long enough that the engine will be running to warm itself the next time you drive it.
    bruceha_2000, Mar 14, 2005
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    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator

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    I hope to get one in time. My daily commute it a little shy of an hour. My errands are all within a mile or two. On a Saturday afternoon, I feel bad hopping into Priapus and driving 3/4 of a mile in 15ºF to the gym. Or practically across the street to the grocery store. Or, more likely, driving to the gym, letting him cool down for an hour and a half, driving 1/4 mile to one grocery, letting him cool down for a half-hour, then driving to the other grovery where he cools down for another half hour then finally winding up at home. My EV will be used exclusively for the in-town errand running when it's just not practical to fire up the ICE. And for showing off. :)
    TonyPSchaefer, Mar 15, 2005
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    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator

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    Can someone give me a definitive "Yes" or "No"?

    Does installing the EV switch violate the Toyota warranty?
    TonyPSchaefer, Mar 22, 2005
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    efusco Troll Slayer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer\";p=\"74474)</div>
    Tony,
    Quotes from folks who've attended seminars where that question was posed to Toyota officials resulted in a "Yes", it violates the warranty. But then they're going to quote the party line b/c they can not, by law most likely, go around encouraging people to install these.

    By law simply adding an aftermarket product cannot be grounds for denial of warranty work.

    If you do the install and have a failure of the hybrid system and Toyota decides to fight the claim for warranty work due to the fact that you have an unapproved part that alters the function of the system as it was designed and sold in the US you may have a hell of a battle on your hands to get the work done under warranty.

    I have, from the start, advised that I think it is highly unlikely that your local dealer would deny warranty work even if they knew you had the EV switch. They do the work, they get paid by Toyota for doing it, they're happy. Also, something like Dave's EV solution is very easy to remove and would be nearly impossible to prove it was ever there...they would have to know exactly what to look for, and even then it's unlikely they'd know for sure.

    But, ultimately, I've also always said that if you have any reservations about your warranty and do not have the funds to pay for any non-warranty covered repairs out of pocket then you probably should not install a switch.
    efusco, Mar 22, 2005
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    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator

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    Thanks, Evan.
    I knew there was an explination in here somewhere but was having one heck of a time trying to find it. Note the almost-week delay in my asking the question.

    Can someone who has the EV switch mod post a picture? Not an international one factory-installed. I would like to see what it looks like installed. I was also wondering if it looked so natural that perhaps the mechanic wouldn't even know it's a modification.

    Also, when engaged, is there a notification anywhere reminding you that it's active? I was thinking that if I use it to run to the store and back, I might forget to turn it off and start off to work in the morning with it engaged. I know that eventually the car would override the switch, but still, I would feel silly forgetting to turn it off.
    TonyPSchaefer, Mar 22, 2005
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    mspencer New Member

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    I don't own a Prius or an EV mod yet, but from what I've read: EV mode is cancelled once the car is powered down (so you wouldn't need to forget to turn it off the next day), and while in EV mode the MFD switches to the energy screen. I'm pretty sure the car records events like entering and leaving EV mode, but I don't know anything more than that.

    --Spence
    mspencer, Mar 22, 2005
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    efusco Troll Slayer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer\";p=\"74796)</div>
    I'm not clear on what you want a picture of. Have you read the articles in the Knowledge base about the EV button and looked at those pictures?

    [IMG]

    This is my EV button--not factory installed, but the OEM button. If you want a picture of the Coastal button...there isn't one. If you want a picture of the actual circuit installed I bet someone has one..but it's darned innocuous looking.

    The answers to your questions are in my original write up, and then some.

    But, If you engage the EV mode mod in a NA car there is no dash indicator as there would be with the factory installed buttons. If you are on any screen except the Energy screen there will be a beep and the screen will change to the Energy screen....that's your only active indicator that the EV mode is engaged.

    When it disengages (unless you shut the car down) there is a triple beep. If you shut the car down it disengages.

    You won't forget you're in EV mode very often...there's no significant power and if you try to accelerate it'll just triple beep and you're out. Also, you probably won't use it all the way to the grocery store unless your grocery store is only 2-3 blocks away...it just isn't good for anything over 1/2 mile away (some argue they can go farther, but I don't think it's a good idea to do that regularly).
    efusco, Mar 22, 2005
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    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator

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    That was exactly what I was looking for. Not sure why I couldn't find anything on my own. The grocery store really is literally a couple blocks away. The gym is 1.2 miles one way. I was just thinking that my MPG average takes a hit every time I drive there and back.

    In the end, it's the warranty voidance that I'm most concerned about.
    TonyPSchaefer, Mar 22, 2005
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    BitShifter01 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer\";p=\"74796)</div>
    I knew I should of taken pictures of my install :). I'll see if I can't pull off the dash real quick to post a picture of what my install looks like. If a mechanic were to pull off your dash I'm sure they would notice the hardware, but probably wouldn't know what it was for, unless they came to PriusChat :)
    BitShifter01, Mar 26, 2005
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    aromano New Member

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    The EV switch from Costal Tech, that I installed a few months ago, uses the "cancel" contact of the cruise control level to activate it so there is no switch to install. Just a pin into a plug and a few wire taps.

    For me, the EV mods is really only useful as a MPG saver in areas on my regular commute that are slow and level, or slightly downhill, that are followed by faster periods (freeway speeds) or long downhills that will give a larger-than-otherwise-useful recharge. In effect, I use the EV mode as a way of tapping into the "wasted" recharge in advance of those sections of my travel.

    But the geek factor rules above all else!
    aromano, Mar 29, 2005
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    djweil New Member

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    how do you get in touch with coastaletech? i understand that they have a switch that will defeat the nav system requirement to be stopped before inputting a destination.

    i am a new owner - first time on this form

    don
    djweil, Apr 3, 2005
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    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North

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    Tideland Prius, Apr 3, 2005
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    prius04 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"78216)</div>
    When you try to go the coastaletech.com, This is what you get:

    Network Solutions

    coastaletech.com

    This domain name expired on 03/27/2005 and is pending renewal or deletion.

    The email address must therefore also not work, though there may be a grace period for forwarding of email.
    prius04, Apr 3, 2005
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    Hokie-Dave New Member

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    I'm a new owner of an '02 Prius. I believe I read somewhere that the EV switch is only for the 2004-up Prii. Is this the same thing as putting the gearshift selector to "B" in the Classic Models?
    Hokie-Dave, Apr 4, 2005
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