I've seen people mention this before as a means to get an "EV Mode" on the Gen-1. However, I'm curious about a few things. First of all, I have already read that it will set a code. The questions are: When you turn the pump back on, does the code go away, or do you need to pull the 12V or reset with scan-tool? Does the engine continue to try to start? If so, how long?
I did it the 'old fashion' way ... I ran out of gas. The "check engine" light comes on and you have an EV. I simply drive to the nearest safe place, park, add a gallon of gas, and start the car. The "check engine light" doesn't come on, the engine runs and I'm off. Bob Wilson
I think I'm going to experiment with this idea tonight by pulling the relay to the fuel pump. I won't drive it very far, though. Since I still haven't received my plug-in kit I don't want to risk draining the stock battery too far.
Just thought I'd give an update on this. I pulled the relay for the fuel-pump, which should essentially produce the same result. When I started the car, the engine ran for a few seconds and died. The check-engine light came on as well as the red triangle and the console screen went to the warning screen with the picture of the car in red. However, the car remained in "ready" mode and I was able to drive it. I only drove it to the end of my street and back because I didn't want to damage the battery. However, to my surprise it actually accelerated pretty good. I only got it up to 20 mph but it could have definitely gone faster than that but it is a neighborhood street, so I didn't want to go any faster. This was the first time I've been able to see how much power can be exerted by MG2 without the assistance of the I.C.E. I would definitely say the Gen-1 Prius has a powerful enough electric motor to make a good EV. I would point out that I had to use a scan-tool to clear the codes in the engine computer. I think when I get my Enginer kit in, I may create a switch to add this feature. But I know the Enginer kit can't really provide the kind of power needed to sustain this, but I'm now beginning to wonder what I might be able to do to add more battery power to take advantage of this.
Hello adric22, In my 2005 with a 4kwhr enginer kit I use EV when I know I am running low speeds. In this case the Prius automatically kicks me back to blended mode when that is needed. I can get really good results this way. First you need to have a way to go back to normal operation on the fly without being distracted by that process. Then you need to have it automaticly go back if you exceed some speed (gen2 is 35mph, gen3 is 25mph). Finally you need to have it automaticly go back if the Prius HV battery goes low, this happens at 3 bars in the Gen2 and 3. I do not know how you would do all that? Thanks, Dan
