Am I the only dumb bastard

My guess is the EV swith is due to lawsuit happy US residents.
If EV was standard in the US and someone pulled out in front of a truck in EV mode and was smashed, someone would sue Toyota for "lack of acceleration" or something stupid like that. An EV mode Prius that was rear ended could also be a potential law suit. Just one successful lawsuit and Toyota might have to do a recall. Sales would also be negatively impacted by bad press.
Minimum benefit, added risk.

 

Why aren't side-blinkers available in the US? It must run down the battery too.

 

Well, with no 'real' story one has to conjecture. How about: way too late to do a lot about it, somebody in the Development Lab hard-wired a car for EV mode and noticed the HV battery malfunctioned faster than expected. Possibly meeting California warranty standards, possibly not even making the non-California ones. My guess is: not long enough to satisfy Toyota.

At that point, the switch was pulled out of US cars to avoid hassles like somebody ALWAYS turning it on. As previously stated, all non-US cars would require the same action but those owners would be considered less likely to sue.

Since we have no reports of anyone either intentionally or accidentally hard-wiring EV mode, any problems will have to come up rather slowly. I'm willing to wait a few years to see what happens. Not all bad decisions show up as dramatically as, say, Pinto fuel filler issues...

Here's where I'm not sure WHAT the car would do if there was no switch and EV was hard-wired. I assume the car would drop right out of EV mode if one gunned the engine or did the other EV-ending things, and not go back in until the car was restarted. No drastic loss of energy there. Now, any traffic-jam use of EV would require restarting the car, but when you're already stopping it's not a big deal. Still saves on the cost of another switch. Lose out on rolling around while turning on EV? No further behind than US cars are right now. Nope, can't see any real down side...

 

And here I understood the Primary Focus of EV was to move the car without starting the ICE. Right after entering Ready seems the right time for that. More is just being greedy...

Doesn't entering EV eliminate that, until EV is exited?...

<Shshhhh> When one fishes, for answers or for fish, one throws one's line in the water and waits...

 

If one sees traffic is going nowhere, one can either let the HV battery drain in normal mode or shut the car down. Just sitting in Ready will eventually need a battery-charge cycle unless everything HV-related is off and the car is motionless. Creeping forward is not necessarily going to be on battery. I have managed to be in a lot of traffic-backups just when the battery needed to be replenished, so every time I touched the gas the ICE started, then when I released it in order to come to a complete stop again the ICE finally stopped. I imagine that in any sufficintly long traffic jam, the battery might be drained and filled several times. Creep&Stop long enough and that'll be the case. EV in any form, regular or switched, wouldn't be a big help until we get 100-mile batteries.

So if US cars would at least enter EV mode at Ready, they'd be set to creep as far as the driver would be willing to settle for EV-compatible driving (or the car can go on the current charge), then exit EV until another EV-compatible situation arose. Not driving that slowly/conservatively would exit EV immediately at no energy penalty. Not enough charge to enter EV will not be a problem: you can't do what you can't do. The next EV session would be in conjunction with starting the car again, due to whatever "EPA rules" require no EV switch. If the driver learns that EV mode isn't something worthwhile, a great way to get out of it that doesn't hurt MPGs is right there: don't be easy on the pedal and Just Drive It. All of this seems like an excellent implementation for US cars, except Toyota decided not to.

And a solid Official reason why would be nice, not just that they weren't allowed to let us switch to EV mode...

 

My two cents...

I see a lot of paranoia, speculation, and circular reasoning posted here. Discarding that, and using logic, the reasons are much clearer.

I can run the HV battery much lower with the A/C on sitting in a parking lot than EV mode can. So if "HV battery damage due to operating in the pink too often "was the real reason the US-spec vehicles lack EV mode, then why do US-spec cars have air conditioners?

The real problem with the EV switch, from a manufacturer's point of view, is that there is no way to specify when it is used. How can Toyota run EPA tests (either for smog or mileage) with a random variable such as EV switch actuation? They can't. They would have to run hundreds of tests, with EV mode tried under all possible operating conditions, to get certification to get smog certs. This is only true in North America, so we don't get the switch.

A/C is specified as being turned off for the EPA tests, so its affect is ruled out. No such guidance for an EV switch.

Also, Toyota is trying to convince a skeptical U.S. public that they can just drive a Prius, with no special treatment, just like any other car. Putting in a button that does strange things contradicts that strategy. There is plenty of boneheaded scary misinformation (like EMTs getting electrocuted, having to plug it in, etc). An EV switch makes it even more unfamiliar, hurting sales.

 

I've heard that before. It's called "When something that changes my mind comes along I'll change my mind, but so far no luck". I don't expect immediate results, but people who argue with me do...

Hmmm. Now, if going pink on a regular basis was bad for the battery, there'd be reasons not to let it happen often. Add a switch to force people to choose to use EV. Prevent lawsuit-happy people from accessing that mode at all. Pieces fall together if low-battery situations are harmful, and are difficult to justify if there's no harm. It'd be interesting to have Toyota say something that makes the switch-enabled owners nervous, so I expect nothing.

And I'd also believe people would adapt to EV-mode-by-default and get out of it sooner than pink conditions, especially if it impacts MPGs. Perhaps I overestimate the smarts of people who bought a Prius?

Still not ready to change my mind...

 

Where does this pink bars idea come from with respect to EV mode.

My EV mode button has never gotton me down to pink bars. The lower the battery the less it goes into EV and the easier it comes out of it.

But every time I stop with AC going I get 1 pink bar easily and it can happen regularly.
I expect it happens every time you go up a mountain too if you live out in the rockies.

So whatever makes anyone think EV is bad for the battery?

I use EV virtually every day, but it seldom stays in EV for even 1/2 mile in any real road driving conditions.

 

Here's my formula, right or wrong: "No EV switch allowed" + "No EV by default" = "Toyota is afraid of EV".

All Toyota has to do is say there are zero issues with EV and I'll be fine. If they'd throw in a reason why EV isn't the default for us unswitchable types it'd be nice...

 

That's the one thing he hasn't done yet. He has one more ASE (test is next month) before he can do the hybrid training. They're already pushing him through the process because they want another good Prius Tech and obviously if you own one you understand them a little better than someone who's just had the technical training. Liability is a big issue if you do something wrong, but if everything goes flawlessly I can't see too much of a problem. Of course you never know.

The service manager is another thing too. Maybe at some point, after he's gotten through the training, he'll bring it up.

Thanks for the interesting info.

 

Problem with your logic is the bulk of the world has the EV button. Wnatever damage it could do would not just happen here in US cars.

Also as I stated before, the battery can be tortured much more with other things way beyond what the EV button does.

Toyota is afraid of plug in hybrids too, so that gives them about 0 credability on things like this.
I expect the switch for EV is part of the same marketing mind set and diminished view they have of the US drivers.

Your logic leaves a lot to be desired. You could say the same about disk brakes being bad because our cars come with drums on the rear wheels. And I suppose block heaters are bad too because we can only buy them from other countries too! They too must damage our cars if used here.

But I am biased as I bought the car for the EV button. Got the button first. Then the car.
And it helps my mpg a lot, much more than it would help people in warmer areas.

 

And this conflicts with Toyota not wanting to reveal that potential damage, how?...

If I built a car that had a battery with X capacity, then heard people were reengineering it with 10-20X bigger batteries and plugs, I'd disassociate myself from liability on products I didn't build, warn people the warranty was shot if they did that, but also warn my lawyers some yahoo was probably going to sue me when his homebrew system spilled battery acid on his kids.

EV is stock, outside the US...

I think your 'mind set' comment above covers that, except for climate differences making warmer engines a good idea. Obviously you ignored that to take a shot at me. Tsk, tsk...

And perhaps having EV makes you defensive about what it's possibly doing to your car?...

 

Can I ask what an EV switch is? I have seen this term used a lot but I haven't a clue what it is. I maybe the only "dumb bastard" who doesn't. <_<

 

From a Toyota Press release:

EV drive mode(world's first)
By simply operating a switch, the driver can select motor-only operation for cleaner operation and reduced noise, suitable for early morning or late night driving.