Auris hybrid : energy monitor : how to change the image

[haelewyn]

Hi guys, 
I bought a 2014 Auris TS Hybrid and am a bit unlucky with the Energy monitor. Mine gives some kind of unreadable display, where the ICE is almost unvisible and far away.
Can not monitor the energy levels well with this tool.
Does anybody know if it can be changed to an other existing and better picture ?
I include a picture of my car's energy monitor so you can see what i mean.

[haelewyn]

Here are some images from other types of Toyota Hybrid energy monitors which i think are more clear.

Did anybody change his own energy monitor in the car yet ? How to do it ?

 

[johalareewi]

That display is using the touchscreen so I guess how the energy monitor is displayed is down to the version of 'Touch' that is being used?

 

[haelewyn]

Yeah. I think you mean it can not be changed ?   Just use the latest version on the thing, it's all you can do as an owner..
Honestly, i think it can not be changed but wanted to give it a try by asking around here.
Will ask my dealer too, soon.

I did an update of the map and firmware software but the image stayed the same.
If i read the manual right, i think there is no straight way to changing the picture..    Was searching for a 'way around'.

Can't change my version of software to the new multimedia thing, i guess.
Or can not change my multimedia unit and just simply replace it by one from a model 2016 I presume..

[cuius]

Wouldn't it be safer to look at the one adjacent to the speedometer?

[haelewyn]

Like the image is now, it is absolutely unclear and it takes your eyes of the road too long to get a little bit of information. Dangerous stuff.
If the arrows are highlighted between wheels and ICE, red or green, that takes even longer.

So at this time the one near the speedometer is the most clear one.
At this time I choose the Current fuel usage and the grafic where you see actual usage between 4 and 7 liter.
If that one does not show 'nothing' , it also means the petrol engine is on. 

The multimedia one just shows me the Battery is being charged or the Battery is driving the electric engine.

But .. it would be nice to get a good and easy readable grafic in the middle , on the multimedia. Then i can use the small information unit for other things, like distances.
Am awaiting an UltraGauge i ordered. Once that arrives, can have an other look into it, i guess.

[Anthony Poli]

Is it not possible to call in on a Toyota dealer and have the car checked out?

Since I don't know where you live, but since the car is less than 3 years old, I would hope that it is still under warranty, even if you are not the owner that purchased the car.

[haelewyn]

It is still under warranty but nothing is malfunctioning. The display is just not the nicest one and it's difficult to see things on it. 
It's a design thing.   It's functioning normal. 
But I will ask a dealer if the image can be changed to a more clear one .. other position of the car shown on the screen like in the examples I sent.

I just think this energy monitor was designed by some engineer on a 45 inch screen and looked all right to him like it was. 
In the car however.. it is not clear to read information from this grafic. Just my opinion.

[Beekeeper D]

44 minutes ago, haelewyn said:

... 
At this time I choose the Current fuel usage and the grafic where you see actual usage between 4 and 7 liter.
If that one does not show 'nothing' , it also means the petrol engine is on. 

... 

Honestly, the pictorial display isn't much use in real life. Whatever the picture.

I think it is mainly intended to impress hybrid-novice passengers ... who might include prospective buyers! All this magic is happening - without you having to do anything! 

 

When the petrol engine is off, you should see the little green 'EV' light top centre between the dials. That light is VERY useful. The engine never stops above about 50mph/80kph. Below that speed, backing off to "get the green" (if you can) will definitely help reduce fuel consumption. The 'Eco Mode' button deadens throttle response so that it is easier to keep the green light once it is lit. 

You can generally ignore the Battery level, because you can't force-charge it (or stop charging) while driving normally. About all you can do with knowledge of the charge level is to try even harder to maximise EV running before a known long downhill charge opportunity. BUT, the language on your display looks to me like Dutch, so I'm guessing that you may not have very many big hills to deal with!  

Changing the between-the-dials display with the steering wheel button isn't ideal, but it isn't hard, or slow once you become familiar with the sequence of the displays - and thus how many presses to get from where you are to what you'd like to check.

Toyota could definitely improve the information displays (even what appears together), but the essence of the product is "just drive the thing and let the magic happen by itself".  

[Anthony Poli]

2 minutes ago, haelewyn said:

It is still under warranty but nothing is malfunctioning. The display is just not the nicest one and it's difficult to see things on it. 
It's a design thing.   It's functioning normal. 
But I will ask a dealer if the image can be changed to a more clear one .. other position of the car shown on the screen like in the examples I sent.

I just think this energy monitor was designed by some engineer on a 45 inch screen and looked all right to him like it was. 
In the car however.. it is not clear to read information from this grafic. Just my opinion.

I am sorry, I may have misunderstood your point. 

Personally I prefer to display the trip information screen, showing the average fuel economy for each minute. Then using the past record to compare this journey with the previous ones saved.

The energy screen isn't really helpful, as the Battery level doesn't vary a lot when driving faster than 40 Mph/ 64Kph. 

 

[Anthony Poli]

2 minutes ago, Beekeeper D said:

Honestly, the pictorial display isn't much use in real life. Whatever the picture.

I think it is mainly intended to impress hybrid-novice passengers ... who might include prospective buyers! All this magic is happening - without you having to do anything! 

 

When the petrol engine is off, you should see the little green 'EV' light top centre between the dials. That light is VERY useful. The engine never stops above about 50mph/80kph. Below that speed, backing off to "get the green" (if you can) will definitely help reduce fuel consumption. The 'Eco Mode' button deadens throttle response so that it is easier to keep the green light once it is lit. 

You can generally ignore the battery level, because you can't force-charge it (or stop charging) while driving normally. About all you can do with knowledge of the charge level is to try to maximise EV running before a known long downhill charge opportunity. BUT, the language on your display looks to me like Dutch, so I'm guessing that you may not have very many big hills to deal with!  

Changing the between-the-dials display with the steering wheel button isn't ideal, but it isn't hard, or slow once you become familiar with the sequence of the displays - and thus how many presses to get from where you are to what you'd like to check.

Toyota could definitely improve the information displays (even what appears together), but the essence of the product is "just drive the thing and let the magic happen by itself".  

You got in before me lol

[Beekeeper D]

2 minutes ago, Anthony Poli said:

You got in before me lol

Despite being long-winded! 

 

And I still didn't explicitly state that the ONLY useful bit of that pictorial display is the charge level of the big Battery. The rest is ... window dressing! 

[Anthony Poli]

15 minutes ago, Beekeeper D said:

Despite being long-winded! 

 

And I still didn't explicitly state that the ONLY useful bit of that pictorial display is the charge level of the big battery. The rest is ... window dressing! 

Still you hit the nail on the head, the energy dial and ev indicator is far more useful 

[haelewyn]

Thanks for your input guys. 
If i understand right, you mean to let the multimedia system's energy monitor let it be for what it is.
Indeed.. i noticed the EV light is a useful thing to look for / at.

If the Battery charge could be the only useful thing in the energy monitor, then it's ok cause that part is visible well.

 

I will have to monitor the Ultraguge reading soon ... that will keep me busy too. Need to keep my eyes on the road too.
It is one thing that is clear to me already : i am a lot more busy monitoring many systems in the car and less with driving than before.
I need to change that again and slow down before reaching a red light...   instead of watching the Battery charge and energy flows.
It's a reason for some airplane accidents that the pilot was sometimes not really flying the airplane but doing other things..
I can learn a lesson from that too :)

[haelewyn]

39 minutes ago, Beekeeper D said:

When the petrol engine is off, you should see the little green 'EV' light top centre between the dials. That light is VERY useful. The engine never stops above about 50mph/80kph. Below that speed, backing off to "get the green" (if you can) will definitely help reduce fuel consumption. The 'Eco Mode' button deadens throttle response so that it is easier to keep the green light once it is lit. 

You can generally ignore the battery level, because you can't force-charge it (or stop charging) while driving normally. About all you can do with knowledge of the charge level is to try even harder to maximise EV running before a known long downhill charge opportunity. BUT, the language on your display looks to me like Dutch, so I'm guessing that you may not have very many big hills to deal with!  

Changing the between-the-dials display with the steering wheel button isn't ideal, but it isn't hard, or slow once you become familiar with the sequence of the displays - and thus how many presses to get from where you are to what you'd like to check.

Toyota could definitely improve the information displays (even what appears together), but the essence of the product is "just drive the thing and let the magic happen by itself".  

First paragraph about the EV light etc :    will surely bear it in mind and follow up on it / learn to drive that way. I just got the car for 3 days ...

Battery level : i try to look ahead ..sometimes trying to charge the Battery more and adapt my driving style accordingly.
Sometimes trying to use up the electricity that is available in the Battery by changing my driving too (go more slow or choose a more slow road)

But perhaps all that is bullocks cause when you use up the power, you need to drive on petrol again to make more charge go to the batt.
Just this idea : it's not useful with this car to drive on petrol for 50 miles - that feels like a waste. 
But sometimes i guess there is no choice.

What we call a hill here, by the way, you wouldn't, ... I am sure. Everything is very flat here but can use the mini-mini-hills we have to get charge.
And slowing down before reaching an intersection / red light...

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Just drive the car and let it do its own thing. Where power is coming from and going to has little relevance imo. As others have said, best to just used the energy monitor and EV light on the dash :)

[Anthony Poli]

1 minute ago, haelewyn said:

Thanks for your input guys. 
If i understand right, you mean to let the multimedia system's energy monitor let it be for what it is.
Indeed.. i noticed the EV light is a useful thing to look for / at.

If the battery charge could be the only useful thing in the energy monitor, then it's ok cause that part is visible well.

 

I will have to monitor the Ultraguge reading soon ... that will keep me busy too. Need to keep my eyes on the road too.
It is one thing that is clear to me already : i am a lot more busy monitoring many systems in the car and less with driving than before.
I need to change that again and slow down before reaching a red light...   instead of watching the battery charge and energy flows.
It's a reason for some airplane accidents that the pilot was sometimes not really flying the airplane but doing other things..
I can learn a lesson from that too :)

You will find, the more you drive and get used to the car, the further you can go while in EV.

As an example for my 1st gen Auris, the manual says you can drive on electric for up to 1Km. Using the petrol engine to quickly build up speed to 40 Mph/ 64Kph and using cruise control, I can run on the electric for nearly 8Km with not many stop and starts.

[haelewyn]

Wow ... I can't do that yet. But i will try to learn !

I read the exact speed can be important ... in my case the engine does not switch to electric when doing 60 km/h.
When i tap the - on the cruise control the EV kicks in on my car.  Good to know... 
Maybe that is the highest possible speed on electric (59 at that time) but not the most economical speed.

[Anthony Poli]

44 minutes ago, haelewyn said:

Wow ... I can't do that yet. But i will try to learn !

I read the exact speed can be important ... in my case the engine does not switch to electric when doing 60 km/h.
When i tap the - on the cruise control the EV kicks in on my car.  Good to know... 
Maybe that is the highest possible speed on electric (59 at that time) but not the most economical speed.

Watching the power dial, up to the C in the ECO you stay in EV. after that the petrol operates efficiently. Once you go into the white area, then the engine gets much louder and thirsty. Battery temperature is a limiting factor to EV

[haelewyn]

About the engine getting more thirsty : i am really under the impression that if you push the throttle (even not very hard), the meter needle goes to vertical and it results in the engine making a lot of noise  but not giving much power (more sound , little bit of power). 
I don't understand that quite well.  Looks like not so efficient to me but that can not really be true i guess (?)

About batt temp : need to read up on that one ..

[MEP's Yaris GS]

8 minutes ago, haelewyn said:

I don't understand that quite well.  Looks like not so efficient to me but that can not really be true i guess (?)

About batt temp : need to read up on that one ..

It does make sense as more noise = higher revs = more power = more fuel used.

Battery temps is a fascinating subject - worth reading up on it in the EV world for a good detailed explanation :)

[Anthony Poli]

3 minutes ago, haelewyn said:

About the engine getting more thirsty : i am really under the impression that if you push the throttle (even not very hard), the meter needle goes to vertical and it results in the engine making a lot of noise  but not giving much power (more sound , little bit of power). 
I don't understand that quite well.  Looks like not so efficient to me but that can not really be true i guess (?)

About batt temp : need to read up on that one ..

After owning my auris for over 12 months, I am improving. At first 36 litres only lasted 400 miles/600 km, now thee same 36 litres gives me almost 480 miles/ 760Km.

Battery temperature is nothing to worry about and just prevents the use of EV only mode

[haelewyn]

more noise = higher revs = more power = more fuel used.
I can relate to that....  To MY feeling however , everything is there but not the power.
Altough... I drove the car one time on 'power mode' and felt then that i was driving a 136 hp car.  

Too early to say now but i do feel that the real power is there only in power mode.

I feel when i push the throttle in eco mode, the thing that happens is :

- the gearbox chooses a very high ratio (compare : on a bike, you have to push the pedals 4 times around fast to only move one meter
Automatically the revs go up a lot but there is not much Nm being produced

- The car computer makes the amount of petrol i want to use more low (little effort in an easy to move gear ratio) , but still high enough to make the meter go up a lot in the first 50 driven foot.

- Not too much is happening altough i read you should get a fast response when flooring it cause then the car will ignore it's in eco mode , more or less

Just my feeling at this time... I could be wrong though as i am a newbie driver of this hybrid car.

[Beekeeper D]

15 hours ago, haelewyn said:

... 
Just my feeling at this time... I could be wrong though as i am a newbie driver of this hybrid car.

Honestly, to begin with, don't try and optimise or control anything. 

Just leave it in Normal mode and drive around as you normally would. Get used to the size and feel of the car, the switches, and how the various bits work. I'd suggest that you use your first tankful to establish a baseline from which you might hope to obtain a measurable improvement as your hybrid skills develop. 

After that, the first things to concentrate on are gentle braking (which is more important the higher the speed) and keeping the green eco light on as long as possible. 

The braking should be kept sufficiently gentle that the charge indicator does NOT (quite) go full scale on the charge indicator dial. If it goes full scale, then you are braking faster than energy can be harvested, and so wasting the energy. The maximum rate of energy harvesting is a hardware limited parameter. It is fixed. But the energy of the moving car (kinetic energy) is proportional to the square of the speed. Thus when slowing from 100kph to 50kph the energy that needs to be shifted is 3x as much as the energy to be transformed when bringing the car from 50kph to 0kph. Hence, for optimum energy harvesting, you need to brake more gently at higher speeds. 

Keeping the green light on (when below about 80kph) involves getting right off the throttle, then getting back on again sufficiently gently that the green light doesn't go off. Eco mode does make that easier. 

 

There is lots more, but it is not necessary to drive the car with your eyes and attention on the instruments, let alone extra information - and particularly when you are new to the car. Drive it normally and safely, and only use spare attention to try and optimise the car's performance. 

It is designed to be simple to drive fairly economically. Yes you can learn how you can do better, but allow yourself several tankfuls to get your head around how the car can be driven - without the effort to optimise it taking up a dangerous amount of your attention.