Hymotion/Other Phev Mods - Who's taken the plunge?

Hi - I drive mostly on the highway- 65 mph -(20 miles each way). Does the hymotion kit only function in EV mode up to 42 mph, and then defer to the ICE? That is what I infer from these threads - but can someone please clarify this for me? Is electric mode only available at speeds below 42 mph and therefore better suited to city driving? Will there be any benefit over 42 mph? and what about hills....

your thoughts?

 

No, the Hymotion kit works on highway and city driving. for highway driving it appears that the mpg would be in the 90's for the first 30 miles. In city driving it can bring the mpg well over 100.

 

The prius will operate as it normally does when the traction battery's state of charge is at 80+%. The gas engine will come on during regular acceleration, warm up, highway speeds.... why didn't you glean this from the thread I offered http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-t...hymotion-conversion-technical-discussion.html

Check out the graph. It appears that the gas engine will still be on when cruising at highway speeds or accelerating. In stop and go city driving the ice will be off a lot according to the graph.

 

I was thinking about the possibility of using an inverter myself. The place it would really be an advantage (if it could be done) is to recharge the L5 on a long downhill after going up a mountain pass. There are at least two long passes between Spokane and Olympia or Seattle. I wonder if we could get that information (feasibility) from the installer. Of course, the charging rate is only a kW, you could only get about 0.1 kW-hr in a six minute down hill. But it would still be recovering a lot more than the traction battery alone.

Dave M.

 

Actually, a 10 A inverter is at 110-120 V. Still I recall reading that the recharge rate on charging from the grid is only 1 kW (4.5 hr to complete recharge). I have only a 400 W inverter, but I think there's still only a 15 A limit on the accessory plug (IIRC). And that is at 12 V. I've got to think about this some more. Does anyone remember if you can tap directly to the 12V battery and safely get more current?

Dave M.

 

I have a 10 Amp hooked directly to the battery for emergency power outage situations. I was thinking about times that I would deplete the Hymotion, but have an hour or more of highway driving. Turning on the inverter and charging it during highway should not drop the mileage on the when running stock at 65 MPH. It's a 7 1/2 hour drive back from Maryland, so I could use up the Hymotion and charge it back for when I'm off the highway. I won't know until October, but I'm going to tinker.

 

I read today that the people in Minnesota getting the hymotion conversion can get the cost reduced by a third by the State. Wow. If only we could get that in BC. Anyway here is the article where I read that. MPR: Rybak calls for more plug-in hybrid conversions

Also, send them a comment, would you? about how lame the physicist's opinions are. I did. Hopefully they post it.

 

Minnesota is too cold to live, but that is a great advantage when buying the Hymotion kit.

 

Moved from Newbie Picture Thread.
Son of Gloin.
Not really a bubble burster. I was "hopeful".
I look at the upgrade like a stereo that is added to the car. Not a
significant change. I bought a new car only because used prii were commanding too high a price. I also plan to work with the local service manager so that they know what is in their neighborhood. I'll be happy if they will work on the car without reservation, regardless of warantee issues.

I also bought the car to do the hymotion install.

I wanted to make available a PHEV to the public in New England. Most early adopters are in CA with small pockets all around, not much in NE that I have seen. Fleets are also scattered about North America, but the public rarely seems them. Being an eternal optimist I am "hopeful" that I can show my PHEV to as many people I can.
Chris

 

These kind of pronouncements from car companies amuse me. Just because they post it on their website does not make it legally enforceable. As you likely know, unless Toyota can prove that the work you had done on the car caused a problem that would have been otherwise covered under warranty, they cannot void the warranty. In any event, Hymotion has stated that if Toyota does deny a warranty claim based on the Hymotion install, then Hymotion will cover the repair work.

 

I have a reservation in....can't wait!

 

I just returned yesterday from having the A123/Hymotion installed by Fitzgerald's LakeForest Toyota in Gaithersburg MD in my 2005 Prius with 35,500 miles on it. I have a web page about the conversion that I will be adding to as I drive the vehicle. A friend in my town of Blacksburg VA (home of Virginia Tech) also had his 2007 Prius converted.

 

I just picked up my 2005 Prius with the L5 tonight as well.

I was a little disappointed in what I got--no manual? No plug-in cord? No bag for the spare tire? Oh well, what matters is using less petroleum, right?

After about a mile, the computer said 98.9 mpg. Then at the next stop light I noticed that the Hymotion LED was flashing. Uh-oh, the tech said that was bad. My mpg dropped to 53 over the next 4 miles. I plugged it in at home (fortunately I had a 14-gauge extension cord!) and the LED is still flashing. I never did see the battery screen flicker--isn't it supposed to show the SOC of both batteries?

I called the Green Car Co, who did the install. They said they'd only charged it for three hours, and it might just mean low battery, so I should leave it plugged in overnight and see if the LED stops flashing tomorrow. I don't have a manual, so I guess I just wait for morning.

Has anybody else seen this? Did anybody else get a manual?

 

Its great to here of more conversions.

As far the the flashing LED go count how many times it flashes. There should be a long pause in between. I have the flashing LED once but it stopped after I had the car off for a while. When I contacted the technician he said the blinking was a code and to count the flashes. Since mine fixed its self and I did not count the flashes I have no idea on what the problem was. Everything has worked fine since.

Erin said the welcome kits were very close to being done and should be done in about a week. That was on September 17th. I think I might send her another email about it because I don't want to finish up my review without it.

 

I was there today at Green Car Co. I saw them working on your car (if it was the red one). Small world.

I get my 2009 Toyota Prius (1 week new) done with the Hymotion battery on Monday. I am dying to get this thing going.

 

TheForce, thanks for the tip on counting flashes. Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess) after a full charge the flashing is gone, and the battery is working as expected. The behavior I saw was not what I expected from a low battery, but who knows.

I'm only getting 73mpg, but the battery was only charged for about 50 of the 80 miles so far, and it was mostly highway with a full load. I'm hoping for significantly better around town and more frequent charging.

One new thing came up...the car will occasionally go beep-beep-beep, kind of like the sound you often get if you open a car door with the key in the ignition. The hymotion battery was on, LED was solid, and the SOC showed it still had a charge, although it was getting kind of low. It didn't happen after the battery turned itself off. There were no lights on the dash. Could it have been saying that the Hymotion battery pack was getting low?

 

The beeping must be a result of the pack trying to enable EV mode and the car denied it.

 

I had my Hymotion installed today. There was even an owners manual in the box. I think that is new based on what I have read here.

The technician said he found nothing different and that the 2009 Prius is exactly the same as the 2008 for the purposes of the Hymotion system. I expect that Hymotion will expand their approved installations to 2009 models in the near future.

I road with the technician during the 10 mile test drive. We had about a 1/2 charge and did the entire 10 miles in EV mode with a few small grade incline hills. He told me the main purpose of the test drive was to verify that he could get 99.9 mpg for a 10 mile trip.

There are a few more test he verifies with his PC connected to the system.

I left the installer (Green Car Company in Seattle) with about 2/8 bars for the Hymotion battery, so I didn't use it on the drive home. I did a few hours of charging and went out on my first Hymotion assisted drive. It was AMAZING !!!

When driving a stock Prius, we all now how you have to really feather the gas pedal to keep it in EV mode for any distance. With the Hymotion is is EASY to find the EV mode and maintain it for a long distance.

Based on the test drive of 10 miles with 1/2 of the Hymotion battery charged (and two big guys inside), I think 20 to 25 miles in pure EV mode is possible at speeds of 35 mph or less. I will have to do more testing to establish the maximum EV range.

I also plan to test my 60 mph cruise control highway range.

When driving, I certainly feel the extra 200 lbs of weight in the back. The car also is noticably lower on the rear wheels. We are considering stronger springs for the rear section.

That is all for now.