Some tips for your Prius
[“Prius Cheers & Jeers”]

From: "GregH"
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 13:54:27
Subj: Some tips for your Prius

I just received my Black Prius last night and have noticed some of the annoyances that you have indicated on your web site.

1) The reverse beep can be turned off... Look for instructions on the chat rooms or ask your dealer to do this for you

2) The time scale in the consumption screen is exactly as you have stated according to the conventions of the Cartesian coordinate system. Positive time is to the right.... think about this. If you extended the screen to the right you would be looking at the gas milage that you would have IN THE FUTURE. Since this is not possible, the past mpg is displayed to the left. The time domain is increasing in the positive t direction and decreasing in the negative t direction.

3)The key. I'm not certain about this, but what would happen if you left the fob in the slot and only took the mechanical key with you?? I can't say for certain what would happen in this case, but it is interesting as this feature is the first that I would like to hack in my Prius.

4) Temperature switch. If your gloves are too big to touch the screen effectively, use the voice command to set the temp. This will allow you to set whatever temp you want with a single voice command e.g. "72 degrees". Push the voice command steering wheel button, which seems easily accessible to me even with gloves on and say the command.

5) Tenths of a mile. Use the GPS and forget about the odometer. The GPS is more accurate anyway. Note: I did not say that the built in map was more accurate, only the positional data from the GPS versus the odometer.

6) Cruise control. Yep, I agree with you on this one... don't know anything that can be done about it.

7) Energy monitor. I don't think that these bars correspond to the 50Wh icons. I think they are more of a percentage of charge state type of readout. All illuminated is 100% half illuminate is 50%. Don't fret about this, in researching the Hybrid technology, I was very troubled by the constant charging discharging cycles on the battery. Anyone who works with NiMH knows that they have a limited cycle life. It seems that if you maintain the pack in a constant 40-80 percent charge state, the batteries cycle life is orders of magnitude greater.

(Also enginere by trade and training)

Hope this helps.

[snip]

> 5) Tenths of a mile. Use the GPS and forget about
> the odometer.

Another feature I didn't buy. However, my spousal equivalent (SPEQ; yes, you're supposed to laugh) has a portable GPS. I wonder....

The dealer told me that one of its customers had bought the navigation system. They got the car in December, January. (Same time as I got my car. Average day temperature was barely 20°.) They had a devil of a time activating it before they realized that the overhang they were working under had an impressive amount of steel, which obstructed radio waves... completely.

> 7) Energy monitor. I don't think that these bars
> correspond to the 50Wh icons.

I ignore those 50Wh icons. Here I'm driving a car that's creating enough electricity to light up a 50Wh bulb, and I leave my computer on (and monitor) while running errands in that car!

Your "percentage of charge state" is right, especially when you run the car out of gas, and thus electricity. Also, there's an email on PriusOnline.com with an excellent explanation of these states.

I got instructions to turn off the reverse beep from the following web site.

http://john1701a.com/

Look for the 2004+ users guide. The instructions are in there. You have to follow them carefully, but they worked for me. It took me four tries, but it seems that I was having trouble distinguishing between the standby mode and the ready mode.

[snip]

Now you know why the dealer is having trouble with remembering this procedure. I typically work on several embedded systems at work, so I am more accepting of this "voodoo" interface than most people.

Several of my friends at work thought of another scenario for the Smart Start function. What happens if the car is running and you drop the key fob out the window? Does the car continue to function, or does it think that you are some sort of car jacker and disable the vehicle? I plan on testing this tonight.

We already tried to press the power button while the car was moving.... nothing happens. This is what happens when you put 4 engineers in a new toy and start to play.

I have heard rumors that this "voodoo interface" also allows you to disable the seat belt warning beep. I will leave that one on since I should be wearing it anyway.

I had the oil changed last week for the first time. Normally, I do this work myself, but since the first oil change was free at the dealership, oh whattheheck. As I was thinking about making the appointment, as I was approaching 4,500 miles on the odometer, the car's oil reminder light turned on. Having not had that sort of idiot light on any of my previous cars, I immediately checked what this was about. Then I wondered, "Ok, if I change the oil myself, how do I reset this light?" The instructions, by golly, were in the car's manual. (Anal repulsive me would prefer a much better index than what's printed in the manual.)

I asked the dealership to show me how to reset the idiot light. Yeah, I read (and for a living: write); however, demonstrations usually give one a "flavor" for what one subsequently reads. More important, in this case, when I read the instructions you sent me, with the phrasing "voodoo" interface, I knew exactly what you meant.

Seeing the beeper instructions got me thinking more about why would a car manufacturer choose the "voodoo" style of user interface when there was a touch screen at hand (pun intended). Not that I like Micro$haft software products (bloatware, security, inconsistent interface, too integrated with the OS, etc.), but some of that company's customization approaches are sensible. (Eudora's and Mozilla's web browsers are my idea of "good" user interfaces.) Why not present the Prius' customizations similarly on the touch screen?

Anyway, the "voodoo" interface sure is a mind expander! And it works.