Thinking about getting the EV Mod from costaltech for about $50 shipped. For those of you that have it, would you say it has saved you $50 worth of gas?
I don't know if the mod is really intended to save money, although it may. Someone else said it but I agree with the statement that the EV mod is really a cold weather tool. I use mine almost every single day. But I don't use it to exhaust the battery by trying to drive a mile. I use it when I'm coming to a stoplight or when I know the terrain and a short distance (~200 feet or less) away is a hill going downwards. I also use it to drain my battery a little when I know a really steep hill is coming up so I don't overcharge the battery and make my RPM's go through the roof. That being said, I did my mod for a few bucks. You only need a momentary push button and some wire. I mounted the push button exactly where my right forefinger sits so acessing EV mode is now entered on a semi-subconscious basis. See below: And then I can use my screen/audible alert or LED to know if I entered/exited EV mode:
Don't do the mod to save money. You really have to know how to use it (like FirstFlight describes) to save any gas. If you don't know what you're doing, you can actually end up using more gas than without it, actually. As stated above, if you're strapped for cash, don't do the CoastalTech mod -- you can easily just use a $2 button from radio shack and some old speaker wire to do it yourself. I put it in one of those blanks by the dimmer control. Get a nice robust button, though, 'cause it will get poked a lot.
