EV switch right application

The angle varies on what mode the car is in. Warmer modes are more tolerant than colder modes. EV mode is more tolerant than normal mode. You will be able to accelerate harder in EV mode, but you won't be able to floor it. Yes, it is possible to get a feel for what "too demanding" is. It is a pretty darn good design.

 

Not really sure how much you demand of your Prius so this is really tough to answer. Maybe this will help... (?)

I need to coax my Prius up the slight incline to where I can coast down the larger hill. Does it help to know that if there's a car behind me, I'll invariably demand a bit more and the ICE will kick in.

I'd hardly say the EV gets you "more push"... you get what you get and it requires a light foot.

 

One of the factors is whether they have an item in stock or not. I ordered in April for the Auto-Lock kit, but didn't get it until September. Another might've ordered it in September and gotten it a week or so later. YMMV

 

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was mostly wondering if I'm going to be constantly kicking it out of EV mode when I start up from stopped (like when there's a car behind me and I can't really crawl from 0 to 25 without getting flipped off ).

Of course it's hard for me to relate how much I demand of my car, and maybe I'm too heavyfooted from stopped... but am working on the lightfoot (call me Gordon B) )

 

Naw. That was a concern of mine too when I was looking to get the EV mod. After installing it, I was pleased to see that I could give it "more gas" :lol: and still be in EV mode. Like others have said, you can't be leaded footed about it. If you try to jump off the start you'll get kicked out. Moderate acceleration is achievable on a level surface. Regardless, you get more leeway in EV mode. The same is also true if the BSOC is high (in the green).

As for Coastal... I ordered my EV Switch about 3 weeks before xmas. I got it a few days before. No hassles at all. On the other hand, there are some VERY unhappy campers out there. aaf709's "YMMV" statement seems to be very true with coastal. BTW, aaf709, how do you like the autolock? I'm thinking of getting myself.

 

Well, you still need to be semi light-footed, but don't worry about that -- gas mileage is more complicated than how much time you spend in EV mode.

 

Question from a full-on Prius Newbie (made the decision to buy one yesterday and will put our deposit down tomorrow)....

I'm gadget goober, and have built all kinds of goodies for my electric Rav4, and it is great to see what Coastal has to offer for the Prius (so I don't have to do so much of the work myself - believe me, it is more expensive doing things one-off for yourslef when you count the mistakes!) So the EV mode mod is on the top of my list, and I have just read the blurb about it on the Coastal site. So finally... here is my question:

I understand that you would pull the stalk for two seconds to engage/disengage while under way. How do you force it on initially before starting the car? Hold the stalk in while hitting the run button? Hold it for two seconds *before* hitting the run button? I want to make sure it isn't much more of a hassle than just pressing a button (screw the two second wait!) But then, I don't know what would be involved with the button before starting either.

Thanks in advance... now I need to go run around and look for the navigation discussion to see if it is worth $2k.

 

Hi... congrats in advance on your new purchase.

It's no hastle at all... once you see READY, engage via the same method (pull stalk for 2 seconds). If you wait too long (7-10 seconds or so), the ICE kicks in and you'll have to wait until it gets to the right stage to engage EV.

 

I use it twice every day that I commute as I approach the office and as I approach home for reasons and benefits discussed above.

That said -- I don't think this is a must have. I did not make any attempts before purchase to quantify the benefits in terms of real-life mpg savings vs. the $50 investment in addition to the time spent researching and installing the mod.

Back of the envelope calculation... if I get an extra 2 miles per commute in EV where feathering would not have worked (generous assumption), I'd probably save on the order of 15 miles per tank. If I average 50 mpg, that's a savings of .3 gallons per tank. At $2.30/gallon, that's around 70 cents per tank.... I'd break even somewhere around 70-75 tanks.

So, it really doesn't have a strong cost benefit analysis. More of a neat factor for me

 

Thanks - that's cool. I'll expect it to take about a month or two, and if it gets here earlier, I'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

I agree that is isn't 'required' but if you have a driving situation where is can be used, it is nice.

• You can press WAY harder on the accellerator in 'forced' EV mode than regular EV. Even going around a corner at say 15 MPH then trying to get back to 25 with regular EV will kick it off unless you are SO light on the pedal the kid on the tricycle next to you will accellerate faster. Not a problem with the EV switch and a moderate foot
• I wouldn't use it in regular stop and go driving, you'll just drag the battery down getting to speed then use the ICE to recharge when even regular EV mode would come on and get your farther per watt.
• The last ~mile to my house is mostly flat or downhill with 1 stop. The initial section after the stop is downhill so it doesn't use as much juice to get to the 25 MPH limit. I can start and end it with the same number of battery bars using forced EV + glide.
• Don't use it to drag your battery down to 2 or 3 bars then stop for the night, you'll just force the ICE to work harder in the morning. The car seems to use the EV motor more when the ICE is cold, I'm guessing it does so to let the ICE warm up some before having to carry the full load.
• I sometimes use it leaving parking lots since more than likely I'll be sitting at a red light before I can get on the road. I HATE to have the ICE running when I'm not moving! I cancel EV when the light changes.
• Use it intellegently, when YOU know that the road ahead is appropriate for EV but the computer can not.

I checked into getting the OEM button from Japan, but it was still $50 with shipping and you have to build your own wiring harness using info from PriusChat. Not worth it to me. If they sold it with the harness for $50, I would have likely gone that way.

The CT EV mod wasn't hard to install, use a really small jewler's screwdriver to put the pin ALL THE WAY in. I was afraid of breaking something and had to go back twice. Very little of the pin is showing when it is properly installed.

 

If $50 is an issue get a $2 switch at Radio Shack. Should work just as well. You will just not have the lighted switch or the official Toyota EV symbol.

 

The $50 is for the circuit that needs to be integrated onto the computer wiring. There is no additional switch w/ the Coastal EV mod... just uses the cruise control stalk.

 

I like it. Sure, if I didn't have it all I would need to do is to press the button on the arm rest, but this is something my wife has on her Windstar and I wanted to have it on the Prius. The instructions were very clear. It said the installation would take 30 minutes and it took 35, largely because my father thought he would keep me company. :lol:

I sorta scared me the first test as I went to 15mph and nothing happened, but when it reached 16mph they all locked. The down side is when you stop and let someone off, it doesn't relock.

 

I was amazed that the knowledgeable Prius guys did not jump in and answer maggies original question about mpg hit. While it was alluded to in a couple posts, some of you are missing a key factor about the ICE running "anyway" when cold and why not use it to charge the battery.

Drive 35 mph on level ground then drive 35 mph up a hill.....LOAD makes a lot of difference. If the ICE is both propellling the car AND charging the battery, the excess load may bring down mpg.

I don't KNOW the answer, but at least I can accept this concept that seems to be missing some people.

 

I see what you mean, but as far as I can see, it just won't charge the battery when it needs the engine power. It'll forgo the charging for the period of high load, and start charging again when it has spare capacity.

And in the majority of warm-up periods, just like any driving, most of the time you will be at relatively low power. The engine will be running fairly inefficiently then just for the heat, and the extra net effect of adding load and charging the battery should be a net benefit.

 

Thanks for the quick answer. I wasn't aware that there was a 7-10 second delay before the ICE kicks in. Now it all makes sense!