EV Operation Switch Sold by E-Learn Aid - Anyone Know About It?

yes, it is almost pointless.

1) you don't want to use ev regularly because it's bad for mpg's

2) it's bad for battery longevity

3) it's only good for showing people how ev works

 

if it will allow ev while the engine is cold, that might be nice if you need to move the car around.

mine wouldn't do that, but it was a coastal, not elearnaid

the owner of elearnaid is a member here, i'm sure you can get in touch with him.

 

I did the hack I found online with a push button. Didn’t cost much and was easy enough but it is useless If the car is already warm you can start in ev mode and move around for a while at low speed. I did the install thinking I could move the cars in the winter in the driveway without starting them. If cold the engine will start in the typical 7 or so seconds even if you select EV. It is basically ignored by the Prius if cold

 

Maybe something is awry in you install, because one of the primary reasons for the EV switch is to stop the engine starting after the 7 seconds so that you can move the a short distance. You often would do this when cold. I do this all the time so can attest to it working like this. It will ignore the request for EV though when certain conditions are present such as not being enough charge in the HV battery.

 

That could be, but I followed the hack pretty closely. It involved installing a momentary pushbutton with a wire that went to the ECU below/behind the glovebox to ground pin 27. I remember the writeup said it was a button left out of the US build of the Prius that was available elsewhere so he electronics were there.

Turning on in cold weather

When the engine is cold (for example early morning), it will start warming up about 10 seconds after the READY light comes on. During the warming up, the EV drive mode cannot be turned on. (The time before the engine starting varies depending on the temperature, air conditioning condition, etc.) To use the EV drive mode, press the switch before the engine starts.

The comment above does not say that the EV mode may be ignored if the motor is too cold, but I have found that to be the case. You could be correct that there are other factors, like an older 12v or traction battery, but I feel like those are in "good" condition for me and yet this mod has NEVER worked on a cold morning when the car was sitting. If the other kits sold include more than a push button and wire with instructions maybe they can work differently


I did a quick search and couldn't find the document, but at the time it was a nice writeup with lots of pictures.

 

i think i had the same problem with the coastal tech. will be interesting to see if the elearnaid can overcome this.
if not, the problem might be that epa regs don't allow for not starting a cold engine.

 

The above quote is absolutely correct, you cannot activate EV mode once the car has commenced the stage 1 warm-up. Stage 1 warm-up begins 7 seconds after the 2 confirmation beeps that the car is READY to drive. If the engine is cold and I do not want the engine to start then I always press the EV button as soon as I hear the READY confirmation beeps. If EV is unavailable at that point it will put a message to that effect at the top of the MDF and I think there is a warning beep too.

I cannot speak to the 'very cold' aspect as it never gets 'very cold' here. Very cold for us is below 6-8ºC, so conversely l have not experienced this aspect if it exists. I can imagine it might be a parameter if the HV battery is itself deep-soaked at a below-freezing temperature.

 

Strangely enough this morning it was 45° out Fahrenheit. My Prius had not been driven for over 12 hours. For some reason after I started the car I decided to push the EV button before the motor kicked in. My display shows the battery almost full with one green bar missing. I was surprised the motor did not start and I drove about a quarter mile on battery alone