Coastal EV mod is a winner!

its 2am...but i just wanna let y'all know that i just successfully installed it. I took a precision screwdriver and sort of made the hole bigger. then i put the orange wire in and pushed it in using the small screwdriver. I tried it out, and it finally worked. Whew!!!! that was about an hour ago...test drove the car and its working as described. time to sleep.

 

Well, I just ordered it today. We'll see how long it takes to get to me and how long it'll take to install.

 

New Prius owner as of last Thursday.

This thread and two others have me reasonably confident that even a non-mechanical type like me can probably do this. (Other threads likely of value to me on this install are "Help removing pins!" under this portion of forum, and especially "Review of Coastal EV switch experience" under Audio and Electronics portion of this forum. If I can figure out how to get these links into this post, I will do so at the end.)

Now for my even greater concern: How easy will it be to remove the install? And, perhaps doing install/removal repeatedly, and without there being any evidence of some sort of messing with the factory connector having occured in the first place.

In spite of all the confidence I have read in this forum about no resulting problems and you don't really have to worry about the warranty, I will not let the car go back to the dealer with the mod installed for other than some sort of normal maintenance. If I have to take the car back to the dealer for any sort of troubleshooting a problem (regardless of what such is related to), I do not want the device in the vehicle. I do not want there to be any arguable "out" for the dealer to conclude that I'm not covered under my basic or extended warranty for anything. Regardless of any alleged paranoia any think I have, any opinion of ease of removal and repeating install/removal would be appreciated.

Thanks to all who have spent so much time sharing their experiences on this. It's been very helpful and eye opening. This is an incredible website, and I'd be embarrased to disclose how much time I spent reviewing this website last weekend.

My only frustration with the car so far is the Nav stuff that won't work when the vehicle is moving. Read all the posts on that, and understand/proved to myself that the software override doesn't work with the 2006. Would love to find an non-invasive solution for that.

Also, surprised I couldn't find anything in forums re impact of headlights on mpg.

Oh, and my wife's frustrated (it's her car) because the kids are always taking it for a spin (sometimes long ones) and want one of their own due to the gadget factor. I trust that will wear off soon, just like it always has with all of their toys.

Mileage is better than I expected. Averaging 45.5 putting 275 miles on it this weekend, and it's been super cold here over the weekend. And, we bought the package 7, wife put in custom 2-tone leather seats, front seat heaters, tinted windows, and pin striping seamingly everywhere. I didn't expect 45.5 as cold as it is and with the driver seat heat on all the time. (Haven't seen anything in forums re likely number impact on mpg due to seat heat, and I would think such would be substantial.)



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switch

 

But what if you have an emergency situation with the car and it has to be towed in asap to Toyota. How are you going to get the mod out ASAP??? (or for that matter you wife??)

 

Why would they look under the dash? I would invite, explore any of the Prius Tech's who hang around here to chime in. Second the Morison Magnson (sp?) act in the US protects you from damage that is not related to any modification. I don't think the risk is high unless you roll over to the first thing the dealer tells you. Some are good and some are very, very bad.

 

Thanks, I think I follow what your saying, certainly to the extent that the install will very likely be detectable upon its removal, particularly if they know/learn what to look for, suspect something, etc.

If something expensive goes wrong with the car, even having nothing to do with the EV mod, I fear the mod still leaves you open to void of warranty with little likely recourse as it is the user who violated the contract. I'm not familiar with this part of the law. I fear the presumption will be with Toyota, and the burden to overcome such may be huge/impractical. I don't know if this is a risk I'm willing to take, particularly if there's an alternate mod that doesn't run the risk if I can get to and remove it before the car gets to the dealership.

Not having purchased the device/instructions, I'm guessing a completely non-detectable (upon removal) setup would require removal of the wires that are clamped into from some socket into which such are now plugged, and install of some sort of y-adapter therein to which the original and mod wires removably connect. Then, the original wires could be reinserted into the original sockets upon removal of the y-adapter, but who knows if this can be done and if so how many times since the original set up obvioulsy isn't intended for such shenanigans.

Alternately, someone would have to create some sort of inline plug that all the wires connect/go through at an existing point in the line of wires where there presently is a plug/interconnect. If such could be done, then the install/removal would be the simplest ever. Again, I haven't looked at the mod, nor know what it looks like behind the dash to know if my possibility is nonsene technically.

Regardless, thanks so very much for your reply.

I'll reflect on this some more, and perhaps consider other possibilities that might enable non-detectable quick install/removal. Perhaps some separate sort of removable switch can be placed somewhere within reach of the driver. If I'm understanding everything I read over the weekend right, perhaps all that is needed is some separate/dedicated switch connected between ground and that special plug #27.

Perhaps my reply could be forwarded onto Dr. Fusco for consideration, or others have an idea for a completely "non-detectable quick install/removable system" (albeit likely ugly, and/or inconveniently hidden, totally lacking in elegance, etc.)

 

Evan speaks of simply grounding the #27 pin.... I personally don't know the significance of also tapping into the purple and white striped wires, but I'm sure Even knows.



i personally dont know either...but i assume it has to do with the cruise control function. Ev can be installed without tapping on those wires, but when you tapped those two wires, the EV is installed into the cruise control cancel function.

 

I just finished installing it. It worked the first time and frankly I was surprised (lost the instructions for a few minutes and had a hard time finding a small screwdriver). I kept pushing on the wire with a tiny screwdriver and evidently I had gotten it in. One of the hard parts was that the connector is the same one that's used when installing the auto-lock kit (indeed it's the same white wire in both installations) making it a little harder to work around. It took about an hour. I tested it before putting the dash back together.

 

I just did the Coastal EV mod today on my 2006. Went fairly easy. BUT. . .

I do think there may be a difference between the 2006 and earlier models. The 2006 rows of buttons are much more to the right (I believe) than earlier models. That makes getting the switch out much more difficult.

Once the switch is out, it's fine, but ***whew***, when I took a look at that switch behind the vent structure I almost stopped right there.

But, once I got over my fear, I slowly got the switch out and pulled it far enough so it sat just outside the venture structure. That made it A LOT easier.

But, 40 minutes later, works like a charm.

 

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Note: That comment is for the Plug-in modifications that Calcars did. It does not apply to any of the EV mods available. The Plug-in mod is a significant variance in the way the stock vehicle works. EV is a function that is included in the car (stock) in Europe and Japan. You are not modifying anything other than putting back a switch they left out in the North American version. EV should have no effect on your warranty. Someone may make a fuss, but there are thousands of Japanese and European cars with the switch in them that have perfectly good warranties.

 

The warranty issue has been discussed to death.

Priusguy04 are you with the warranty police or what.

 

I just installed mine today, I wanted to wait until I was out of warranty but just couldn't! got 9.7K on her now.

The grey plug will click when your reinsert it. remember the plastic tab (locking lever) you had to push in to get it out, well that neeeds to snap back into place. the instructions say not to start the car with the plug out, Whew! you probably shut it right off when the EV didn't work. :

My comments on getting the grey plug out is this : get the right hand thru the vent and press the locking lever with one finger while prying on the right side on the connetor with another finger. In addition I had my other hand from the other side (thru the glove box) and had a finger or two behind the wire bundles prying outward from the left side. This way I was prying straight outward from both sides of the plug.

It only sencible try not to pull by the wires at all at any point during the installation, though my assumption is the pins self lock once in and can not be pulled out because daves instructions state the white peice on the connector "further" locks the pins.

 

I made a small mark on the wire with a magic marker, (approximately) according to daves diagram of how far the pin must go in.

I had the orange wire backwards the first time. With firm pressure I got it to slide in with my fingers about 3/4 of the way. then with small needle nose pliers I grabbed the wire just above the crimped on connector and gave another firm push (straight) and the pin started to bend. So I re-read the instructions and turned the wire around, repeated my above steps and witht he pliers it wend right in the additional way.

chill out and give it one more shot... you're so close!

 

Just installed my kit today and it works as I expected from the many threads here.


I dont think you can save alot of gas using this mod. But you can maximize efficiency with careful use.

I installed the EV on Misti mainly because I live in a higher elevation area. There is no way I can go anywhere (even the grocery store) without encountering a long hill. I hit these hills with 5 or 6 bars and I am overcharging my battery, even if I waste some energy using B mode. Quite often MG2 starts to dump overcharge.

So with my EV mod installed today I foiled that there 'ole hill! I brought the SOC down to 3 bars and hit the hill. When I got to the bottom I was just at full charge on the MFD (2 green bars).

At this point she had come out of EV as I easily went over 34 mph going downhill, and as I cruised into the grocery store parking lot with a fulll battery I could not get her to go into EV mode again. Same thing when I came out of the store. I couldn't get into EV until I dropped charge to 1 green bar. Any have comments on this behavior?

I'll be going out later today..we'll see what happens.