Hymotion Problems? Users Feedback Please.

That could be it. I never turn off the pack. But I never have a need to use the cruise control below 34mph unless I'm using the pack, so I guess it's a moot point!

 

Yeah there may be an issue with EV and cruise. Regular Prius have EV limited to 25MPH in other countries. Toyota upped the speed to 34MPH for the USA but did not give us a button to use. I'm thinking they did not change the code for cruise control. Or the fact that cruise control is so aggressive it will kick you out of EV mode anyway.

 

No EV button in the US models. You can install an after market button, I think pretty easily, but I've been reluctant to get into it because I don't want to screw up my Hy battery. The Force seems to have experience with how it works and the issues involved, so was curious what he thinks.

 

Yes, I know. Your post#16 made it sound like you had an EV button already.

Regardless, I put a Coastal EV switch in my Prius to get manual EV. So far, no problems with the Hymotion kit and the Coastal switch. Being able to kill the warmup cycle for short, local, low speed trips has improved my average MPG's as well.

The Coastal kit wasn't too bad. If you're comfortable pulling a couple of panels off the dash and putting on a couple of wire taps it is not bad. The hard part was working in a very enclosed area and wrestling with the wiring. If I had known what I was doing, I could have had it done in under 30 minutes. There is also a video on YouTube as well from a PriusChat member showing the install.

 

Sorry, that was an edited quote from The Force. So what kind of mpg improvement have you seen?

 

Confirmed. You cannot use cruise control in EV mode.

 

No problem. I was just confused there.

It's kind of hard to say as driving styles, weather conditions, vary so much. If I had to make a generalization, I would say it adds about 15-20mpg to my average, so maybe in the dead of a Midwest winter I'm getting 50-55mpg, and in ideal spring/fall conditions I'm getting 65-70mpg. I just filled my tank today and I was right at 75mpg with this particular tank.

But let me add a caveat. That average is my wife also driving the car and not even trying to drive efficiently. That is also with me driving the car I would estimate around 30% of the time with the pack depleted.

If my job was within range of the house, and I always drove around with a charged pack, and my wife never drove the car, I personally could get well over 100mpg, probably close to 150mpg pretty easily. Guys like TheForce are probably doing much better than that.

 

Just to chime in. I have an 06 but no HyMotion pack (nor EV button) but I have successfully engaged and set CC below 34 mph. I'm 95% sure I've even done 25 mph.