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Yet another Hymotion install

Discussion in 'Prius PHEV Plug-In Modifications' started by SVPriusFan, Sep 22, 2008.

  1. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Chris, Rob,

    Thanks for the ideas, but its not that big a deal. If I were a permanent employee I might try pushing it, but as a temp I'll just be happy to put in my 40+OT and stay under the radar. I'll probably be moving on to a better position with better pay soon, but until then I'll just put in my time and smile:p. I've got a number of other projects going on that I want to focus my time and energy on...you've got to pick your battles:usa2:

    I do appreciate your input, though. Perhaps someone else is dealing with this same issue and might find the ideas they need here.

    Chris, the timer I bought was from Home Depot, I don't have the model right now but it is a digital unit with the grounding prong and two outlets, about $20. I'll probably hook it up this weekend and try it out with the EBH. Regarding EV-mode, sometimes the L5 engages it and sometimes not when I start out. I usually leave the L5 dashboard switch in the "on" position so that I'll have the best chance of engaging EV right away, but I have to back out of the garage so I'm not always quick enough before the engine starts. I still need to order the Coastal Tech switch (busy with 10,000 other things), but that will happen soon. I remember how nice it was on the 2007 I had back when I was living in Greater Disneyland. Now that I'm in Colorado and have the L5 in the new ride, an EV mode switch is probably due.

    Just a quick aside, I drove to work this morning with pack fully charged (EV-mode didn't kick in and the engine went through its start-up sequence immediately:mad:). I made it the 20 miles to work at 88MPG. I drove another 20 miles after work to downtown Denver - the pack made it to 33.5 miles (including the morning drive) before quitting, but I still managed 120MPG at my destination in downtown per SGII. My gas tank was about half full when I had the L5 pack installed last week and have been doing a lot of driving since then (both with and without the L5 assist). I just filled up tonight - went about 530 miles on a half tank!

    How cool is that?:lock1:
     
  2. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Well, the more of us out there with PHEV's/EV's, the less out of place plugging in will be. I'm sure you're right - the Volt and others will definitely be a help in making this more commonplace and acceptable. Fortunately I recharge at home in my garage with the door closed so nothing is on public display (I'm assuming from your post that your situation is different?).

    Yeah, it's kind of funny walking around buildings to see if there are any outlets to plug into. I've done this several times now...
     
  3. PeakOilGarage

    PeakOilGarage Nothing less than 99.9

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    I think that the Consumption screen estimate for Ave MPG is messed up by the Hymotion system.

    When driving around a lot in EV with a bunch of 99.9 MPG numbers raising the average, then a few minutes of 60 MPG drags down your average. Then more time at 99.9 MPG, but it never gets your average back up to 99.9 MPG.

    So even if you are getting 125 MPG, the Consumption average is just calculating your overall average as if you are only moving at 99.9 MPG.

    So the overall average MPG is artifically low. Does anyone else have this same opinion?

    I don't yet have my SGII. If someone else has more info, please post it.
     
  4. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    pressure your employer to let you plug in... push the green thing... i asked my employer for a reserved spot for EV's only... that is in committee. but as far as plugging in, they were all for that...especially after telling then it would cost them about 15 cents per day at their industrial rates they pay (my commute is only 7 miles one way)

    also, if you dont have one, get a website started that pushes charging stations... we have a guy here, Joe who owns two EV's who wrote up a letter and submitted it to hundreds of local businesses asking them to install EV charging stalls. he publishes a website as well

    New Page 1

    check it out... what he did is something, someone in every community should be doing. we are moving waaay too slow on alternative transportation options. this will help get the ball rolling
     
  5. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    its sad that you work with someone who is so self-centered and uninformed. my fellow employees think my little car is very cool and no one objects to me plugging in... of course my weekly financial gain is only about 50-60 cents on a 4 day, 10 hour shift...
     
  6. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Well, there are all kinds of people out there. I actually feel kinda sorry for the individual in question. I've only been at this company a few weeks, but I can already tell he hasn't endeared himself to many co-workers here. He's a perfect example of what goes around comes around...

    Management here is more of the problem (it seems), and there is a lot of company politics going on - higher than most companies I've worked for. Since I'm only here for a short-term contract, its not a big deal to me to not be able to plug-in. Hopefully my next employer will be more green.

    BTW, most other people here think my plug-in Prius is very cool. One co-worker here owns a Smart car (his wife's car) - one day when he can wrangle it away from her for a day he's going to drive it to work and we'll swap drives for lunch. I've seen several of these here in Denver but haven't driven one yet and am looking forward to checking it out.
     
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    kinda sounds like the level of "green" is simply not the same from one area of the country to the next. there are a lot of smart cars around here, dont personally know anyone who owns one. there is one in the lot at work, but still havent figured out who drives it yet... plus, i've seen the specs on the "smart" cars and personally, i dont really think they are
     
  8. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Dave, I'm willing to bet the level of "green" is different from one business to the one next to it. Human nature is all about differing opinions...

    And I'm not too impressed with the Smart car's specs, either...but it would be interesting to drive one just for the experience. I doubt it will be on a par with the Prius, but I won't know for sure until I check it out. Can't hurt, but could be interesting...
     
  9. drees

    drees Senior Member

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    Well, Boulder, CO where SVPriusFan was plugging in is one of the "greenest" areas of the nation...
     
  10. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    well that was my impression of the area as well and its probably valid, besides its the employer not Boulder in general. i guess the civic vision does not always jive with everyone in the community... its sad that the company itself caved in to one employee so easily.

    my employer is going 100% smoke free Jan 1. that means no smoking anywhere on company property, POV's included. now that is something disputed by an estimated 100, 000 employees world wide and about 300 here locally. but guess what?? the company is very unlikely to change its policy on this issue.

    now i feel i work for a company that is very proactive in listening to its employees. recently they changed the policy on breaks (change was on a local level) and a handful of employees complained and within 2 weeks, the policy was changed back...so they do listen.

    besides, i didnt say Boulder was not green, what i will claim is that Olympia, WA is one the greenest area in the country... after all, only one can be on top
     
  11. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Well just to be accurate, I never was able to plug-in in Boulder (at least not yet), but I'll continue to look. I was plugging in at work for a couple of days before the "whining" incident, but that was in Southern Denver. Hopefully my next employer will be more open to it.

    Right now there are so few people with PHEVs that it isn't surprising many companies don't/won't provide for it - but that should change as the numbers increase. Again I'm not angry with my current company, just a little disappointed perhaps. But it is cool to finally have a PHEV and many people out there are doing the same thing, and within a few years there will be some available directly from major manufacturers (hopefully). As the numbers go up, so will the availability of recharge locations for us consumers...

    L5 Update:
    I've been seeing range numbers in the high 30's for most/all freeway driving and mid-high 20's for mostly EV-mode driving (been experimenting with this over the past few evenings). The biggest regret I have is that the pack doesn't last longer, but its definitely a big improvement in efficiency over the stock setup.
     
  12. max9952001

    max9952001 Plugging In

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    I got an email from the Inver Grove Heights Dealer, they have an L5 for me! I'm trying to schedule for the 16th/17th of the month.
     
  13. OldK1W1

    OldK1W1 New Member

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    Gee what a very interesting & helpfull thread.. Enviously & not practical for me in New Zealand..

    but if the "Smart" car you refer to is the tiny Mercedes Smart .. some may like to see a Pix of such a Smart in Geneva Switz. in Police livery !! outside their local Police station.. I can post it here if allowed..
    Just keep up the good efforts. Cheers
     
  14. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Hi OldK1W1, you should be able to post pix without issue here, just use a page like photobucket to upload your pictures to and link to them when creating your posts. PM me if you want more info.

    ______________________________________________

    I've been visiting family and friends in Greater Disneyland (California) for the past couple weeks and haven't been driving the Flybrid till I returned this past Sunday.

    One thing I've noticed since I've returned is that the pack seems to be lasting longer - particularly yesterday evening on a drive up to Boulder I noticed the first bar lasted almost 6 miles! Never seen that before, its usually gone after 1-2 miles. The pack lasted 44 miles, including several miles in all EV mode (0 RPM per SGII). And I made 96MPG on the trip there, which was 40 miles with a lot of ups/downs/hilly driving. I've only cycled the pack maybe 15 times since installation - I'm wondering if it needs to be cycled many times (perhaps 50+?) to reach full capacity. Anyone else see this?
     
  15. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Hi Chris,

    Sorry to get back to you so late about the EBH timer, mine is an Intermatic HB88RC. Its a pretty beefy digital unit made for outdoor operation and has two 3-prong 120V outlets. Works very well.

    Starting in EV-mode - sometimes my Prius will engage EV-mode from the start and sometimes not, at this point I don't know what the determining factor(s) are. Weird. I haven't bought the EV-mode switch yet - I'm trying to be a bit more careful on spending since I've had several big purchases recently on my credit card. I've been experimenting a bit using the L5 pack - I leave the switch on while its recharging overnight, then after I leave my garage in the morning I'll turn the L5 switch off if it has engaged EV-mode and save the Hymotion battery until I get onto the freeway. I can get about a mile before the engine comes on at the freeway onramp where I have to go over the 34MPH EV limit. I only lose a few bars to get there on the stock battery and this seems to help my initial mileage and stretch the range of the Hymotion pack a bit. I'm sure the EV-mode switch would make this a lot easier, though.
     
  16. boxer93

    boxer93 Psyched for PHEV

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    SVP,
    That is the same model I picked up for me. they didn't have the 77 readily available. I still don't have my EBH yet. Should be this week.
    As for the EV mode Jay observed that the EV mode may not engage if the hymotion pack is drained and the SOC of the stock pack is too low. I also think that if you are used to using the EV switch that you will drain the stock pack faster and maybe leave it too low when parked to charge for the night. I still don't feel the need for the EV switch. The intergrated control from the L5 works fine for me. With my SGII I see that I do enter EV mode when appropriate. I can see how you use the EV first and then the L5. I assume that the L5 will help recharge the stock pack's SOC once you engage it. I hope that it is performing to your expectations. Mine is.
    Chris
     
  17. SVPriusFan

    SVPriusFan Hymotioned and loving it...

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    Hi Chris,

    At this point I don't have the EV-mode switch yet either. I've been experimenting and I think I have a handle now on getting the pack to engage EV-mode. One thing I've been doing over the past few days:

    In the morning I back out the garage and go into drive without putting any real acceleration/load on the car (L5 fully charged from overnight). This seems to put the car into EV-mode for the beginning of my commute. Once I'm sure that EV-mode has been activated I shut off the L5 switch and drive under [stock] battery-only power to the freeway onramp, at which time the engine engages - its not far, maybe 1 mile or a bit more and I only lose a few bars of energy (no purple). I turn the L5 back on as soon as I am on the freeway and it takes a bit for the L5 to recharge the stock pack, but what I've found is that doing this adds a good amount to my range and my mileage doesn't seem to suffer. I've actually noticed an increase during my commute to Boulder: 100MPG versus 80 if I leave the switch on from the start, and my range is in the low-mid 40's as well. I know others have addressed the issue of messing with the L5 switch while driving but I've never had any problems or witnessed the LED flashing an error code... and I don't think I'm putting undue stress on the stock battery by doing this (its a slight downhill to the 470 onramp from my home). Just an observation...

    BTW, I'm very happy with the performance of the Hymotion system, although I do wish the range was a bit better. On a related note, one of the Milongas I go to has an outlet very close to the door that I can reach pretty easily, so I'm now recharging for the round-trip on those evenings!

    Very cool:D
     
  18. PeakOilGarage

    PeakOilGarage Nothing less than 99.9

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    We all wish that we had 100 mile range with the battery, but the battery technology makes that impossible for now on the Prius.

    The key to owning a Plug-In Prius is to always do "opportunity" charging. Identify where plugs are in the places that you usually travel. Then always grab some extra electricity whenever possible.

    I always reset my Trip B every morning so I can see how far I drive each day. Some days I drive 60 to 80 miles and my Hymotion battery had energy for 100% of the driving. I already know where the electric outlets are in the 3 places I am typically driving to, so my Hymotion battery is rarely dropping below 3/8 bars.

    I also keep 2 different extension cords in my car. 12 feet and 25 feet. If I really need to, I can put them together for 37 feet of extension cord.
     
  19. SeattlePriusDriver

    SeattlePriusDriver New Member

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    I am hoping to get my own Hymotion L5 system if the government will give a nice rebate on it next year. With the system, does the car start off slow then starts to pick up speed? Do you get to utilize the 295lb-ft electric torque more effectively? Does the gas engine ever kicks in if push on the accelerator hard at start?
     
  20. PeakOilGarage

    PeakOilGarage Nothing less than 99.9

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    I doubt that there will be any federal incentives. But at the state of Washington level we are working with state legislators to extend the sales tax exemption to the Hymotion battery. That would save about 9% in sales taxes. I think it is likely to happen in 2009.

    With the Hymotion battery installed, you definitely have more play in the pedal to maintain the electric mode of the Prius. If you push hard on the gas pedal for a fast acceleration, the gas engine will engage.

    I have found it very easy to maintain the EV mode of the Prius below 34 mph for 25 miles. It seems like crossing 34 mph will engage the gas engine. However, if the engine is warmed up, between 35 mph to 40 mph it is easy to slip back into EV mode and just maintain a constant steady speed.

    If the road is flat it is easy to maintain 38 mph to 40 mph in pure EV mode (0 rpm) for as long as the Hymotion battery has energy.

    It is important to have the ScanGauge II trip computer to see this happening.