EV Mode Mod Quick Question

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SureValla @ Jul 14 2007, 09:30 PM) [snapback]478897[/snapback]</div>

Easy answer is "No"...it's not true.

Long answer is that the car has built in systems that will cancel EV if it's used too agressively or if battery SOC gets too low.

Alternate answer is 'Yes'. If you were determined to make it ruin your battery then, over a long time, with intentionally abusive use (drive to high SOC, engage EV at low speed and drop the SOC as low as possible, then drive to high SOC, then drop down while in EV again many times daily over a few years of ownership) you would probably shorten the life of the battery. To what degree is probably impossible to determine and is probably not measurable.

For probably the 100th time....
The benefits of the EV button are not adequate to justify adding it if you are not prepared to pay non-warranty replacement of your battery or HV ECU or Inverter should they be damaged and that damage is alleged or shown to be due to the EV button. I seriously doubt you or anyone else will ever need to pay such charges and I seriously doubt Toyota will ever try to deny appropriate warranty coverage to someone just b/c they have an EV button installed. But even with perfect use the EV button offers only minor MPG benefits, with imperfect use could reduce MPG, but all in all it's probably a wash for most drivers. It's a fun toy though. I'm one of the first people in the US to install the mod...probably the 2nd or 3rd person to do it. I love my OEM EV button and use it a few times on every commute. I'm not at all worried about warranty issues. But I have the financial where-withall to pay the cost of repairs if there ever is a problem. Not everyone else is.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SureValla @ Jul 15 2007, 09:14 AM) [snapback]479060[/snapback]</div>

There are a number of reasons postulated and hinted at as to why we didn't get it as a standard option in the US. One has to do with emissions, with increased use of the EV button the Cats and emission controls could get too cold to work properly. The longer, esp. California, emissions regulations requiring the HV system to be warranted for 150k miles probably caused them to hesitate so they didn't have to risk possible premature battery death and replacement. The warranties are not as long in the EU.

But, the bottom line is that it doesn't matter "why"...it just is. You can accept the risk or not...I, personally, think the risk is next to zero, but it isn't "zero" and you have to be willing to accept that if you choose to install the mod.