Favorite ODB2 apps for Prius Gen5

Based on reading some threads here I did go ahead and get the Panlong ODB2/Bluetooth adapter recommended by the Dr. Prius app. I use Android, so was a pretty simple decision.

Pairing worked OK and it was nice to poke around the app while in the garage to see what it can do (at least the free features). The paid features look interesting and I'll probably upgrade soon. Fun surprise is it looks like I could use it to disable the internal reverse beeper on my wife's car, I will try that tomorrow. Really looking forward to seeing what it shows while moving and simply charging.

That is a long introduction to the question: What are other good ODB2 apps folk like that are known to work with the Gen5? Paid or not, and what you like about them. I've seen a few on YouTube videos reviews of pure EVs that look interesting, but don't know if they know about the Prius Gen5. I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about the cars internals.

will

 

Thanks @vvillovv: I'll take a look at those too. It was kind of fun (yea and probably not very smart) to look at power consumption and generation for various kinds of driving. Interestingly, no difference in park vs drive-but-stopped, but very interesting to see that the HVAC takes anywhere from 6-10 amps (it's cold and snowy today, so using it). At 250V, that is a lot of power! I can see why cabin heating is such a drag in EV mode or for EV cars in general.

will

 

@vvillovv: Yep, I had the temperature to 65F-ish with ambient right at freezing for that reading. I assumed HVAC was on/off so the draw would be constant when on but cycle. Maybe not. At a stoplight I did see a 15A draw above idle when the interior was colder, but figured that may have been something else drawing power. If HVAC current draw is variable, then it could have been just that.

For my big trip, departure day started at 14F so also did what you said, just went straight to HV mode in order to get the "free" heat. Do you need to do something special to ensure you get engine heat vs heat pump heat? Hopefully the car is smart enough to figure that out, but maybe not.

will

 

@DecorahDave: I have the PanLong adatper and used it with the Dr. Prius app on my wife's Gen3 to turn off the reverse beeper and it worked great. Did you try it with the Dr. Prius app? My only beef was the reverse beep, so hadn't tried either the reverse seatbelt options on my Gen5.

will

 

I finally had an interstate errand with my wife, so could do some on-ramp accelerating while she looked at the Dr. Prius display. Kind of impressive numbers even for a Prius. I floored it and she saw a max current draw of 335amps. At 250V, that's over 83kW!!! You figure most homes have a 100-200A mains service and here the peak current is 1.5-3x that! I was in EV mode and put it in sport mode too. It was a short test though, I was going 70 before the merge lane merged with the highway.

will

 

Oh, and just to follow up on @vvillovv 's suggestions with the PanLong adapter on a Gen5:
- Dr. Prius: Connects reliably and works. Just need to figure out what the bar charts are telling me. Pretty, but must be useful somehow.
- Car Scanner: Connects reliably and works. No battery info though, but lots of other useful data.
- Hybrid Assistant: Connects for a few seconds then disconnects. This looks cool if it would work though, so bummed.

With Dr. Prius, now I have three completely different battery SOC numbers, none of which agree ever (well, the car and app agree on 100% I guess, but nothing else). When the car and app say 100%, Dr. Prius says 90%. I suspect Dr. Prius is right and that's Toyota's safety margin. At the other end I got the battery low at one point and had 4% from the car, 36-ish% from the app, and somewhere around 20% from Dr. Prius. I know the reason the car and app disagree on the low end, but was hoping at least the app and Dr. Prius would be close, I guess not. A person with one watch can tell you the time, a person with two watches is never sure.

will

 

Thanks @vvillovv, I'll look more into Car Scanner. I did see that All Sensor menu and was a bit overwhelmed, I need to spend more time with it. Since I'm the primary driver, it is fiddling for a bit in the garage/driveway, setting the screen to something that will be there for the drive. Yep, without confirming it I assumed I needed to completely exit one app before firing up another. Now that it is winter, it does sound good to look at warmup temps. Although, since 99% of my city driving is on electric only, may not see much warm up! Lot to learn and having fun doing it.

will

 

An update: I did play more with Car Scanner more and realize it is a lot more capable than I initially realized. You can set up your own custom display picking the parameters you want and show numbers or graphs. Pretty cool.

Alas it must not be quite ready for the Gen5. For battery current (the one parameter I like), whenever doing a regen braking, instead of showing a negative number it shows something around +6,500 amps! Hopefully it will get updated soon.

will