beta testers sought for new tech for Prius c

Hi Jayw13702 and tgpii,

I'll keep you in mind if we don't get enough locals. Thanks for replying.

Marc

 

Hi skayaks,

We focus on selling to fleet operators where the drivers are non-hyper-miling employees. Our goal is to find out how the different settings (i.e., SmartPedal driving modes) perform and "feel" from an experiential perspective.

I'm personally kind of curious how SmartPedal would work in connection with hypermiling, but we've never actually tested that scenario. Maybe when we have a few units to spare (we're almost out of the first production) I can send you one to test—assuming you're interested.

Marc

 

Hi jscoot,

The testing will likely involve about three months to test six different driving modes. We like to see about 400 miles in each driving mode, which for most people is about two weeks of driving.

In answer to your second question, it's very difficult to correct for weather/temperature in an outdoor test with a diversity of drivers, but we do what we can to minimize the issue by:

1. focusing most of our testing in California where the temps/weather stays within fairly narrow bounds;
2. asking drivers to note and estimate the effect of weather any particular test segment; and
3. incorporating enough vehicles and miles into the testing process reduce noise in the data.

For more exacting testing, we developed a test rig unique to the automotive industry that allows us to record real-world driving (pedal, braking, etc.) on city streets. We then play this data back in a vehicle on a closed course test track with corrections turned on and then off. During playback, our test rig controls the vehicle's acceleration and braking. You likely recognize this as class A/B testing. The entire process is repeated three times for noise reduction.

The above is not a replacement for real-world testing though, or for the experiential feedback that we get from a diversity of drivers.

I hope this answers your question.

Marc

 

Hi @tgpii, @jscoot, @JOELPRIUSC,

I can expand the testing outside the SF Bay Area to include any combination of the three of you. Just post here if interested and I'll PM a promo code to you. If you plug in the code when ordering through our site, it will zero out the product and shipping costs.

Sorry, @Jayw13702, I would love to send one for you to test in the UK—SmartPedal is RoHS compliant—but I want to keep the testing "local" to this side of the Atlantic for now.

Marc

 

Noted. Second production is in process for delivery next month.

 

Sent.

 

Hi HasuPK,

Good to meet you and thank you for volunteering, but we've officially wrapped up the Prius c beta test program and are now focusing exclusively on selling to municipal, county, and state fleet operators.

In case you're curious about the process, whenever we have a new design, we like to test with the public before introducing it to fleet operators as a means to test and tune our technology. The Priuchat community has been really valuable in that process, which we sincerely appreciate.

Marc