(5) beta testers sought for new technology

The thread is many pages, but every now and then a similar question pops up. It was first raised by royrose in post #37. My heavily edited (for length) reply in #50 is pasted below:

I would add something else here too, which is that this is one of those technical problems that looks simple on the surface, but turns out to be a bigger challenge to implement effectively and safely.

I don't want this reply to get too long, but if people are curious, I can write a blog post about that topic someday, or even just post here (and then turn the post into a blog article).

I feel the same way. Pedal remapping won't be useful for the Prius, or probably any other Toyota product, but it is there for vehicles from other manufacturers, some of which have very aggressive acceleration at the low end, especially from a dead stop. Our pedal remapping enables drivers to configure the acceleration profile to their liking, rather than learn to drive to the stock profile.

All modes. Pedal signal correction applies anytime the operator is in control of the vehicle. In fact, we've done a lot of testing on all-electric vehicles, including a dozen Nissan Leafs.

 

Hi digbywombles,

You're the fourth to ask about UK/Europe, so I'll check into it. We are ROHS compliant, fyi.

Question: which model/year do you own?

Marc

 

Fantastic car. I own one myself in Bar[th]elona Red.

I checked on shipping today. Still checking on tariffs and VAT. I'm not sure if one or both apply.

 

Hi daiske99,

Thanks for reporting publicly here. At this point, I very much want this data to be public.

I have a question though. You reported 57.1 mpg after 441 miles in mode 2 two weeks ago. Did something change?

Marc

 

Hi Everyone,

We decided to move the pedal remapping feature to Smartpedal Extremis. Even though this isn't a useful feature for the Prius, we did promise it, so we're going to upgrade all the orders through end of day today to the Extremis with a one-year warranty. For Prius owners, this means five modes instead of three, with a super aggressive mode 5.

Happy Earthday +1 for everyone.

Marc

 

To All Testers:

Please post your current and historical mpgs here when you have new data. Most of you already do so now, but I'd like everyone to do it. I know that I requested PM at first, but that was to avoid embarrassment in case we needed to tweak settings in the initial testing. We're well past that point and, in fact, did pretty well even out of the gates.

FYI, as a group, you have driven ~35K miles on Smartpedal.

Marc

 

Hi Everyone,

We'll have a new "final" version of Smartpedal software to release next week. We've added two new features:

1. The LED now flashes green periodically to indicate healthy operation during normal vehicle operation. Previously we had just powered down to save power, but this had the unintended consequence of leading several users to assume the LED had failed. It was a pretty reasonable assumption, in retrospect. In any case, the green heartbeat should clear that up.
   
   
2. A new feature to related to mpg performance over the long term. Sorry can't discuss this one.

Both changes are currently going through a 72-hour cycle on our test rig. After that we'll use them on our vehicles and then ship out to the group next week.

Marc

 

Hi bobzchemist,

The plan is for delivery after open-road testing this current software release, which would mean the last week of May.

This timeframe is realistic: We already have all the long-lead components in stock and the rest on the way, so the physical assembly can be done in advance. (One of the rarely discussed advantages of manufacturing in the US is a faster supply chain with more certainty--this simplifies our logistics quite a bit.)

I appreciate your order, patience, and support. I remember you made one of the early posts on the thread.

Best,
Marc

 

Hi Fred_H,

It's similar to the reason why most vehicles get better mileage with the cruise control engaged:

Motors and engines tend to operate more efficiency at a constant target output, rather than wavering above and below the target output. That's the idealized theory, but the reality of driving is that power _has_ to change often in response to the driver's needs.

What we noticed as a company was that in addition to intended changes by the driver, very small unintended changes happen nearly constantly during normal operation.

We then discovered that by using probabilistic analysis, we could reliably predict the driver's actual goal and correct the pedal signal to match it. We then built the first prototypes and performed both closed-course and open-road testing.

After several years of continued development, we did our first large-scale commercial deployment last year (transit fleet for a U.S. city) and plan to release a consumer version next month.

That's the theory and development history at a high level. PriusChat members have been posting results intermittently throughout this thread. Those numbers provide a more credible answer than anything I could write.

Marc

 

Hi qdllc,

Most Leaf owners we tested with generated a 5-8% increase in range with Smartpedal; a fortunate few got even more. Most combustion-only vehicles get another 20-30 miles per tank. For hybrids, we're seeing larger numbers, typically 35-45. (Some of the PriusChat testers are even getting above this range.)

Two motors is a positive factor as you wrote. We also found that higher torque vehicles perform better with Smartpedal, even if most of that torque disappears above ~30 mph.

Marc

 

Hi Everyone,
New software is ready. The release incorporates minor changes, although one will help with long-term mileage. This will be the last pre-production release.

I'll ship out to everyone on Monday/Tuesday, so you should receive in time for a weekend install. I figure most of you can do an expert install at this point.

IMPORTANT:
We changed the light sequence significantly for both programming and mode/health display. I'll publish a video or written instructions later this week on interpreting/using the new sequences.

Best,
Marc