February 1st, 2006
How to Hack a Prius and Enable its EV Mode
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Not long ago we did a piece on how hyrbids while great did not actually save you money - mostly because of their cost compared to a basic Honda Civic. But the Prius has become more than just a way to save money, for many techies and celebrities, it’s “the” cool car because it’s small and undertsated and high tech. Yeah, yeah. But to those who own a hybrid, here’s way to hack it so it works mostly in battery (EV) mode, thus boosting your mileage even further. Did you Know: In the US this EV mode is disabled where it ships standard in Europe and Asia. Wonder why….
Yes folks, as intimate as you might feel with your Prius, your high-tech friend is capable of doing things you never even imagined. With a little do-it-yourself, you can unlock a whole new set of latent magic powers that Toyota never wanted you to know about. The most notable thing your Prius is hiding from you is that it can run on pure EV mode, a feature that comes standard on Asian and European models, but is disengaged on those sent to the US. In “Stealth” mode, a Prius can go up to 34 mph on battery power alone. All the wiring is there—waiting to be hacked. Source: Treehugger
Step By Step Guide with Pics (pdf file)
Don’t forget some of our other popular hack stories:
–Hacking a Lexus
–Elevator Hack
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
How to Hack a Prius and Enable its EV Mode
Not long ago we did a piece on how hybrids while great did not actually save you money - mostly because of their cost compared to a basic Honda Civic. But the Prius has become more than just a way to save money, for many techies and celebrities, it’s …
February 1st, 2006 at 10:01 pm
Georgef says:
I assume that electricity is free where you live. EV mode just shifts pollution from the exhaust pipe to the utility company. I wonder if a Watt of power from a utility costs more or less than gas.
February 2nd, 2006 at 8:11 am
DavidR says:
Shifting where the electricity gets consumed is not the point!
More Prius (or other hybrid) purchases represent an elevated consciousness, which will pressure the production point-of-origin toward eco-friendly electric production - inevitably.
February 2nd, 2006 at 11:23 am
YoungT says:
Georgef, the comment about shifting the pollution from the tail pipe to the utilities suggests you believe the Prius is able to be plugged in to a wall outlet. While some people are working on this, the Prius you would by at the dealership does not have this feature. On the topic of utilities, in some parts of the country, say central Washington state, the available electricity is primarily derived from hydroelectric and nuclear sources, not fossil fuel burning. It would seem to be better if we could centralize our pollution to specific sources instead of distributed by each car.
February 2nd, 2006 at 12:35 pm
ChrisM says:
Georgef,
When the Prius runs in EV mode, it’s using its BATTERY. You don’t plug the Prius in!
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:04 pm
SeanB says:
GeorgeF, The Prius doesn’t use ANY electricity fro your utility company. It generates and recharges it entirely in the car. Saying that this will impact the utility company is like calling the electric company if the batteries in your flashlight go out. The only thing this hack will do is allow the car to use the stored electricity in the battery that otherwise just sits there.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:04 pm
PeterW says:
But it’s not good to deep-cycle the batteries, might that happen in EV mode, driving the characteristically longer distances in the USA? (as compared to Japan?)
February 2nd, 2006 at 8:00 pm
j. says:
- EV mode not installed on N.American vehicles cuz the
rigamarole for getting EPA testing and fuel consumption
numbers was insurmountable.
- EV mode will use the HV (High Voltage) or Traction
battery more extensively, but will NOT “deep cycle” it.
The ECUs (computers) in the vehicle put strict limits
on when a _request_ for EV mode is honoured and how
long (based on HV Battery SOC) it will be allowed.
- EV mode is only good, and only intended for, limited
distances, such a moving a car in a parking lot or the
like. The HV Battery does not hold enough energy for
much more than part of a mile of travel at low speed,
and the max. distance decreases as the speed increases.
- Installing this “hack” without talking the time learn
the workings and operation of a Prius is akin to
overclocking a PC without any understanding of what
your doing and the potential ramifications or
“chipping” a conventional vehicle just cuz its supposed
to be the cool thing to do .. and can have the same
level of (expensive) Melt Down outcomes.
- EV mode is only possible with 2004 and up Prius.
- Don’t be surprised if you ‘hack’ your Prius and then
later encounter problems getting any warranty work done.
(Heck, its your $$s but hopefully you will also have
enuf grey matter to look before your leap … OTOH, go
right ahead and ignore all that sensible-course-of-
action stuff cuz it helps the rest of us to have an
available supply of parts other than from Toyota
dealerships! )
February 3rd, 2006 at 4:57 am
FelixKramer says:
I’m the founder of the California Cars Initiative. We didn’t come up with the battery hack, but it was a starting point for our project to add batteries and grid-charging to Priuses, and we host the “how-to’ manual for the button modification. For more info about the benefits of adding bhybrids — a “second small fuel tank fueled by electricity” that’s cheaper/cleaner/domestic compared to gasoline at http://www.calcars.org — read the FAQ for answers to basic questions, including relative benefits of electricity vs. gasoline, conversion options, and what we need to do to get car-makers to offer plug-in hybrids.
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August 2nd, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Everitt Chase says:
Ok, I’ve reasearched, and activated EV mode on my prius, I would like to clear up some misinformation here.
1. This does _NOT_ improve fuel economy. The Prius computers are _very_ well programmed for efficiency, you will hurt fuel economy by using EV mode (As indicated in the Japanese owner’s manual)
2. It will not hurt your car… unless abused. Basically, you don’t want to put it into EV mode when the engine is warming up, either go to EV mode before the engine kicks on, or after it’s warmed up completely. (Could harm catalytic converter)
3. It will not void your warrantly. No aftermarket parts will void your warrantly. Toyota may, if it can prove in court that this modification caused specific damange, deny warranty service for that particular damange. This has never happened for an EV mode mod. Yet.
4. It’s great for reparking, and for sneaking up on people, showing of your silent car etc… but it’s _not_ for everyday driving and will not improve fuel econimy.
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:47 pm
KrautofKontrol says:
I spend 3 or 4 minutes every morning driving mostly downhill on residential streets before getting to the highway, and I’m willing to bet that the button will improve my gasmileage.
Any thoughts?
Peter
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:22 pm
jake says:
Is there any way to activate the ev mode on a 2002 prius or is it only on 2004+?
June 15th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
ClapekDodki says:
nudo pubblico
July 17th, 2007 at 2:49 am
Kimba says:
Why not include solar panels on the roof and wind generators in the grill while the car is moving (in addition to this “hack” mix) to help offset some of the needed power?
January 13th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
David N says:
“Wind generators” in the grille wouldn’t do any good. The energy gained from the generators would be less than the energy lost due to the extra drag (it’d take more energy to push the turbines through the air).
Solar panels would be neat though. Easy to get damaged I’d guess, but I can’t think of any other reason not to have them!
February 8th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
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May 18th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
PAT says:
Just activated EV on my 2007 Prius.And I’m disappointed not worth the money.In that mode by itself its good for 2 miles.Now it could be used to gain your 34mph without kicking in your engine.You might save fuel there?Because most fuel thats used is in the stop n go mode.I’ll try that if any one’s interested let me know.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:35 am