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EV Mode Restrictions?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by McShemp, Jul 2, 2006.

  1. McShemp

    McShemp New Member

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    I have had the Coastal EV mod installed for six months on an '06 Prius with no complaints, and I think the mod is working just fine. However, the car would not go into EV mode on two occasions in the past two weeks. Both times, the message I "Can not go into EV mode" was displayed on the MFD each time I tried (repeatedly).

    Both times there were at least six bars on the HV battery and the car had been operating for 15-20 minutes. It's Summer and the a/c was not being used - it was warm inside the car. In each instance, I'd try on and off over a five minute period in real slow stop and go traffic and get rejected each time. BTW - I've been able to go into EV mode since this happened.

    Any ideas?
     
    #1 McShemp, Jul 2, 2006
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Battery temp may have been a bit high. EV won't engage at over 105 degree battery temp.

    There are tons of other factors and without being there and without additional CAN data it's tough to tell you exactly why it wouldn't engage in the particular situation you described. Just appreciate that whatever the reason is to protect your car.
     
    #2 efusco, Jul 2, 2006
  3. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Using the A/C might help. The battery is warmed in winter and cooled in summer by air drawn in from the cabin, on the assumption that heating and A/C respectively will keep the cabin at a temp the battery likes better than outside air.
     
    #3 daniel, Jul 2, 2006
  4. mssmith95

    mssmith95 Michael

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    Yes, heat if the most likely issue.

    Since I live in Southern California, I have been seeing a lot of this lately.

    My normal commute home is around 1 hour. It consists of both bumper to bumper traffic and wide open freeway.

    Before summer, I would only occasionally get the "can't engage EV mode" message when I tried to engage it for my last short trip through my neighborhood.

    Now that it is 95-100 everyday, I am getting that message everyday. This is the only time I get it....on shorter drives or in the morning I do not get it.

    Obviously, heat it the problem, although I do not know if it is the battery temp or the electric motor temp that is causing the message.

    Oh well, I just use stealth instead!
     
    #4 mssmith95, Jul 2, 2006
  5. Cheap!

    Cheap! New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ Jul 2 2006, 12:24 PM) [snapback]280135[/snapback]</div>
    Same here in Houston, TX.
     
    #5 Cheap!, Jul 2, 2006
  6. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jul 2 2006, 10:26 PM) [snapback]280061[/snapback]</div>
    Evan,
    Where did you get the temperature, 105F?
    Our experience is that we can't enter the EV mode when the HV battery temp is at 46C (114.8F) or above.

    Ken@Japan
     
    #6 ken1784, Jul 2, 2006
  7. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ken1784 @ Jul 2 2006, 01:03 PM) [snapback]280155[/snapback]</div>
    Personal CAN-View experience...not tested extensively but I've definately seen some increased difficulty above 105. Now, I can't say that Inverter temps or other issues may have been at play as well. I'll keep an eye on it.
     
    #7 efusco, Jul 2, 2006
  8. McShemp

    McShemp New Member

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    That's what I suspected, but I appreciate the input from CAN view peeps.
     
    #8 McShemp, Jul 2, 2006
  9. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(McShemp @ Jul 3 2006, 03:50 AM) [snapback]280169[/snapback]</div>
    Our observations are also from CAN messages. The sources were the same but value were not.

    Ken@Japan
     
    #9 ken1784, Jul 2, 2006
  10. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jul 2 2006, 07:26 AM) [snapback]280061[/snapback]</div>
    Is there a list somewhere of all the known factors that prevent entry into (or forced exit from) EV mode? If so, could someone point me to it? If not, could we start one here?
     
    #10 climateguy, Jul 3, 2006
  11. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(climateguy @ Jul 4 2006, 02:59 AM) [snapback]280568[/snapback]</div>
    The UK Owner's manual was posted...
    http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=14582&st=1

    Ken@Japan
     
    #11 ken1784, Jul 3, 2006
  12. mssmith95

    mssmith95 Michael

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    After reading a number of your posts about battery temperature and combining that with my own experiences and tendencies I decided to see whether it was the Hybrid temp or the battery temp causing the error message...

    So, instead of driving with the windows down in 95+ degree heat, and then occasionally switching to A/C, I instead drove the entire hour commute with the A/C on. So the temperature inside the cabin stayed cool the entire commute.

    To my surprise, I was able to enter EV mode at the end of my commute, even though the outside temperature was 98! Now this was only one time, but I will try it a few more times to confirm.

    This seems to lead me to the conclusion that it is the battery temperature that was giving me the error...and it was caused by my letting the cabin temperature get too high for too long of a period.

    Will let you know after testing a few more times if this holds true.

    Thanks everyone!
     
    #12 mssmith95, Jul 3, 2006
  13. climateguy

    climateguy Junior Member

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    #13 climateguy, Jul 5, 2006
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