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What is with the EV button? Its useless!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Jimbo69ny, Nov 7, 2014.

  1. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    I just bought a used 2010 Prius 3. It is my third Prius so I am quite familiar with them. My first was an 08 and I installed the EV button. The car would go 1-2 miles on electric only. It was nice but I wanted more. So I bought a 12 PIP. It was great! I loved the car but I caught the EV bug and had to go full EV. I sold it and bought a Rav4 EV out of Cali and I am very happy with it.

    My fiance needed to replace her 04 Corolla so she sold it and we bought this 10 Prius.

    I really cant figure out what the EV button even does. 98% of the time it wont go into EV mode. Can someone please tell me what good it is and/or if I can modify it to work like my 08 button did?

    Thanks guys and gals!
     
  2. DoubleDAZ

    DoubleDAZ Senior Member

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    I use the EV button when I'm simply switching stalls in my garage. I've used it in national parks/forests when I'm going slow and don't want the ICE to kick in to charge the battery while I'm taking wildlife photos.
     
  3. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    The EV mode on my 08 was good up to something like 40 mph and remained on until the battery dropped to pink on the display.

    I have only been able to get it to turn on once that I can recall and when I hit 12 mph it deactivated and the ICE turned on.

    What are the "rules" I cant figure this thing out.
     
  4. ForestBeekeeper

    ForestBeekeeper Active Member

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    My EV mode only works in parking lots, under 9 mph.
     
  5. Chilly

    Chilly Junior Member

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    Haha, I was wondering the same thing about that EV button. I have, however, reached higher speeds in EV mode but I believe you have to be on the lower half of the throttle display, if that makes sense.
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    The EV Drive Mode button the Gen 3 works differently than in the Gen 2 (I also have the EV mod in my Gen 2). For those that are not familiar with what the OP and I are talking about, in the Gen 2, you could activate EV Drive Mode and drive up to (31mph) 50km/h with no restrictions on engine temperature. It was great.

    In the Gen 3, there are 2 tiers of limitations that make the EV Drive Mode button kinda useless compared to the Gen 2. In the Gen 3, the top speed is lowered to 40km/h (25mph) and there's a second, lower limit of 16km/h (10mph) when the engine is cold. Thus you have to gingerly drive at less than 10mph or the engine will fire up and do its warm up cycle. Even then, I think you have to be at S4 to "unlock" the 25mph limit, otherwise you get the "EV mode not available" message or "Excessive speed. EV mode cannot be activated" message.
     
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    In S4 and in EV Drive Mode, you can accelerate to the full width of the "Eco" area bar in the Hybrid System Indicator. If you're not in EV Drive Mode (so just driving with the engine off but without pressing the EV mode button), you have to stay in the "Hybrid Eco" area (the dark green area) as you've stated above.
     
  8. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    And there is still another tier, at least in the U.S. When the engine coolant temperature is below 68F (20C), EV is not available at all.
     
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  9. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Is there no way to modify it so it works like the button in the last gen?
     
  10. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    Hmm, I'm pretty sure the Canadian cars are not much different than the US ones, and Pearl S will go into EV mode when cold as long as the battery is less than two (I think) pips down from full. I've used it to move the car out of the garage and onto the back lawn for washing. Coolant temp was well below 20C (around 10 to 14C as I recall).
     
  11. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    Why? to burn more gas or wear battery more?
     
  12. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Standard Prius are hybrids.

    Many threads on how Gen 3 "EV Mode" actually works. But if you were expecting The Prius suddenly becoming an E.lectric V.ehicle, you're going to be disappointed.

    There are times I use it. I like it.

    But even with the EV button, parameters of operation have to be met. So the engine has to be warmed up, enough charge in the battery, and there are limits to torque and acceleration.

    I find after experience driving the vehicle, often I can now coax EV operation out of the vehicle by making acceleration and throttle choices and letting the vehicle decide it wants to be in EV on it's own, which makes pressing the EV button redundant or unneeded.

    There are a few low speed scenarios where EV becomes valid.

    #1 being, when someone new to Prius is sitting next to you and asking you what it is like when it is running on battery.
    StSt
     
  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The second gen EV button he's got was self-installed, aftermarket, I'm inferring, reading between the lines. Maybe it was using EV much more aggressively than something Toyota would design? So he has misconceptions from his last experience, wants to carry on the same with his third gen?
     
  14. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Neither smart nice person.

    I live in a very hilly area. The downtown area is in the valley and there are hills all around it. With my 08 I could use EV mode for a mile at the top of the hill then recharge the whole way down into town. It was very convenient. Despite all the hills I averaged around 55 mpg in my 08 using the EV mode almost every day.

    Yes I realize the ICE needs to recharge the battery and if you use it on flat ground it is really pointless because you are using gas to recharge. But in my case the EV mode worked out very well.

    I also liked that it was basically an engine off switch at speeds below 40 mph. I could hit the button as I approached a red light and regen as I stopped with the engine off.
     
  15. Jimbo69ny

    Jimbo69ny Active Member

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    Exactly! It was self installed. I added a momentary switch and followed the instructions that are available here on this forum. It worked very well, much better than this oem EV mode.
     
  16. DaneH5

    DaneH5 Member

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    Sounds like you want the PIP version.
     
  17. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    From past discussions, we know that the US threshold of 20 C is different than the rest-of-world threshold (outside North America), which seems to be at or near 0 C. I was just never clear, or the aging brain refused to remember, which threshold was used in Canada.

    In a long ago thread, I sampled my 2010 over a hundred times trying to refine and verify this threshold. In that sample set, a 20C (68F) rule was never violated. EV worked at 69F or higher, but was always rejected at 67F or lower. The ScanGauge never ever displayed 68 F. Once, I even managed to sit and watch as the coolant cooled from 69 directly to 67, skipping 68. Coincident with this cooling transition, the EV cancelled and ICE fired up.

    I have continued to check occasionally in the years since, including on the 2012. Still no violations observed. Being able to move the car in and out of the garage in EV mode still has value to me, but overnight temperatures typically allow this only a week or so per year. Getting EV is far more common if the car has been driven earlier the same day.

    Maybe you could run a similar sampling on your Canadian model and report what threshold you find. And maybe my old brain will remember the Canadian result this time.
     
  18. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ok yes there's that. I was thinking once the car is in motion too (so the engine has done its warm up cycle). If it hasn't, like moving in/out of the garage, you're limited to 16km/h. In the Gen 2, you get the full 50km/h speed range.

    No. The Gen 2's EV Drive Mode was much more flexible than the very limited Gen 3 version. I have the same mod that the OP does on my 2005 Prius and it's nice to be able to control on your commute where the engine can be off in cooler weather (like it would be in the summer) to reduce engine run time and maintain glide and thus reducing the use of fuel. That's neither wasting more fuel or wearing the battery.

    If you had tried the Gen 2's EV Mode, you'd have the same feelings the OP and I have.

    Nope. All Gen 2 Prii had this software pre-installed in the vehicle. All we (North Americans) had to do is install a switch. Some went with the OEM route and bought the Toyota EV Drive Mode switch, others went with the "coastal ev mod" route (which is what I have) and others just rigged a momentary switch from parts from Radio Shack. The Gen 2's EV was more flexible than the restrictive Gen 3.
     
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  19. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    Yes, but there is a reason why it's so restrictive, isn't it? Toyota didn't program it this way just to annoy the owners, right?

    It's not EV after all.
     
    #19 Former Member 68813, Nov 8, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2014
  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it would be nice if you could back your car out of the garage to wash it, without the ice firing. that's the cause of so many intake manifold problems.
     
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