Alterative Fuel Fair in Lacy

ok was gonna ask when it was...until i read the title of the thread. shouldnt be a problem for me and its a blast, lots of stuff to see.

 

Hmmm. Tell me more about this fair. May might be possible. Nice weather, good roads, still too early for mountain hiking up around Lake Kootenay. mapquest says it's a 5-hour drive. Kinda far for me, but maybe...

 

daniel its a alternative fuel fair where battery, bio, ethanol, solar, wind,(yes i said wind) and several other options are displayed in working vehicles with the owners available to answer questions. there is also an electric car rally race. (these are go-cart like thingys so your Prius is ineligible...besides most of the categories must be homemade anyways)

last year it was a blast, the weather started out typical, bit foggy at first, but the sun came out mid-morning and the weather turned out to be perfect... probably mid 60's. a great time. come out, meet a few Priuschatters... or re-meet them... really hoping that Norm (CANVIEW guy) comes out this year

 

Sounds good, Dave. I Googled it and found a 428 MB video of the race. I know about wind-powered vehicles, because I served as a crew member on one for a week about 5 years ago. I think they are more practical on water than on land. I've seen videos of ice boats. And I've heard jokes about wind-powered automobiles. Less practical, I would think, because you can't really tack on the freeway.

Somewhere, once upon a time, someone posted a picture of a Prius with a windmill on it. Maybe 20 feet tall. Photoshopped, I suppose, though it could have been done with scissors. The forward motion of the Prius turns the windmill, which generates electricity, which powers the Prius. Yeah, I know... but it was a cool picture.

 

Say, Dave, speaking of CANVIEW, I know basically, more or less, what it does. But what does it look like? And how does it attach to the car? Is it a stand-alone device, or does it show up on the MFD? Does it take a tech to install it? Can you post a picture of it, or post a link to a picture?

 

here's Norm's web address
http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca/

 

CANVIEW is a little metal box slightly larger than say a pack of cigarettes. one end plugs into the back of the MFD, the other plugs into the CAN bus which is just to the right of the steering wheel under dash.

its an awesome tool that Norm is currently working on expanding. ive only had it a few months and its increased its information by close to a ¼. well worth the money. buy the flash unit too. (it really shouldnt be sold without one. there is no real technical expertise needed to update your own unit)

 

Okay. I want one!!!!!!!!! But I don't want to install it. Any thoughts? Might this guy do installations if I meet him in Lacy? Do Toyota dealers ever install this kind of stuff?

 

you can do it in 30 mins. you dont have NAV as i remember... so it will be harder...then again, i dont have NAV either and i always assume that the option not chosen is harder (makes me feel better about myself) or not as good... so on that point, i may not be right. but neither is difficult. did you do an EV switch?? about the same really.

besides if you come to the fair, you will have plenty of help. heck Frank is a mechanic, he will most likely be there. he shows up for everything. (he also drives the farthest.. a real Prius Troubadour) i can help you. its pretty easy.

*EDIT*

actually Mike (ifixem) is the Prius mechanic at Toyota of Olympia, he will do it for you if you absolutely dont want to try it. i think he might have done Henry's. he also does Coastaltech EV's and stuff. he really dug Henry and my CANVIEWS when we met with him last month.

 

if you buy one and bring it to Lacey I'll put it in for you. Only tools needed are a phillips screw driver and a set of wire cutters and pliers and a 10mm nut driver. If you want I'll do an install like on the wife's 2k4 and put it behind the hump cover as I found that above the glove box tends to fall down every now and then. Yes if your considering buying one get the Flashblaster2 module so you can update it.

 

The CANVIEW web site has a link to a PDF file with instructions on getting the MFD out, with a view to getting at the stereo, but for the CANVIEW you just stop there. It looks pretty harrowing to me. I'm rather a klutz. I did install the Costal Tech EV switch. Dave, I think you did one of the DIY versions, didn't you? I'd have prefered an actual button but didn't feel up to the complexity of the project. As it was, I came close to quitting. The short, tight, wire bundles were a real hair-puller, and I'm not entirely sure I ever got the pin completely seated, though the switch has worked fine ever since.

I think I'll go ahead and get the CANVIEW, and worry later about getting it installed. May is a long ways off, so getting one of you guys to help may be a last resort if everything else fails.

Oh, and no, I don't have the NAV. (Though I bought a Street Pilot after moving to Spokane, and it's great.)

 

I emailed Norm. He thinks the Flashblaster is unnecessary, as he anticipates no important software improvements in the near future. As soon as I hear back from him regarding whether the external programming adapter card is something I really need or not, I'm going to send him the money, and he says he'd get around to building mine in about a week. And I suppose another week for it to arrive by mail, though in retrospect I might ask him to send it by second-day UPS if that's an option.

Meanwhile, Frank has mailed me a DVD of the installation process, which will help me decide if I want to attempt that. Thanks again, Frank.

Now it's my nap time...

 

well if you can believe it there is no--yes--no UPS where he lives and the unit he mailed to Evan arrived in like 5 day's or there abouts. Wait and see the time for the DVD and judge from that. Worse comes to worst possibly Henry or Dave if you mail the module to them would flash it for you and mail back. For that matter send it to Norm and he'll re-flash for you as well. Or mail it to me and I'll do it.

 

Yes, I can believe that. So I'll just have to be patient. I'm not getting the FlashBlaster or the adapter card. I can always get those later if I want. But unless there turns out to be a bug in the software, I think I'll be happy with the unit as it is for as long as I own the car (which will only be until they come out with the next major model revision (I'm guessing somewhere between 2008 and 2010) (?))

I've sent him the money... he said he's get around to it in about a week.

 

I will be at the Fair again and this year I can stay for the full day. Look forward to seeing those I met last year and all new comers. It is a fun Fair, the Prius wan't be as new to the public as last year but I doubt that the questions will change any. Get us plenty of parking.

Bob

 

well if parking is a problem... i could walk over... should take about 15 minutes.