Prius Sidelight Led Upgrade

[Dizzo]

Is it worth changing the front sidelight/parking bulbs for LED ones on my 2007 Prius? Existing ones are 5w, LED ones would be 0.5w and a lot brighter. What I am thinking is that I spend a fair bit of time stood in traffic in the dark with the 55w headlights on, draining the 12v Battery and perhaps causing the engine to start up. You don't need a headlight beam to see where you're going in urban traffic, so all you need is a bright light so you can be seen, and LED sidelights would do that and not drain the Battery. The theory sounds good - will it work in practice? Is it legal?
Apologies if this has cropped up on the forum before, but without trawling through 120 pages of headers, I don't see how you can search the forums

[unclepoo]

How about something like this....the idea sounds good to me if you`re driving at dusk or in a well lit urban area. LEDs are the most efficient form of lighting at the moment. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ERROR-FREE-CANBUS-T10-501-W5W-10-LED-5630-SMD-CREE-side-light-bulbs-Xenon-White-/261685928997?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cedb26425

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Legalities are technically no unless OEM fitted as the current UK lighting regs don't cover the use of LED bulbs and only cover filament units, OEM setups get allowed as they're EU type approved with the vehicle.

I doubt you'll be saving much overall though, standard bulbs will be running from the 12v, which in turn is kept topped up by the traction Battery, you'll be sitting a long time for headlights alone to drain it enough to result in the ICE kicking in I'd have thought.

[unclepoo]

I would think the prius3 will have almost all it`s lights as LED....head lights may be HID, but even these use about half the power of filament lamps. So every little helps, especially if your stood in traffic and all the ICE is changing, and heating in winter.

[Devon Aygo]

Is it worth changing the front sidelight/parking bulbs for LED ones on my 2007 Prius? Existing ones are 5w, LED ones would be 0.5w and a lot brighter. What I am thinking is that I spend a fair bit of time stood in traffic in the dark with the 55w headlights on, draining the 12v battery and perhaps causing the engine to start up. You don't need a headlight beam to see where you're going in urban traffic, so all you need is a bright light so you can be seen, and LED sidelights would do that and not drain the battery. The theory sounds good - will it work in practice? Is it legal?

Apologies if this has cropped up on the forum before, but without trawling through 120 pages of headers, I don't see how you can search the forums

Once the car is in ready mode the 12v Battery is not being used only charged, the Hybrid Battery takes on all electrical duties whilst in ready mode.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I would think the prius3 will have almost all it`s lights as LED....head lights may be HID, but even these use about half the power of filament lamps. So every little helps, especially if your stood in traffic and all the ICE is changing, and heating in winter.

headlights are LED also on the mk3, no HIDs :)

Once the car is in ready mode the 12v battery is not being used only charged, the Hybrid battery takes on all electrical duties whilst in ready mode.

Interesting, ta for that. I assume there is some sort of stepper to reduce the traction Battery to 12v for most things also?

[Devon Aygo]

I would think the prius3 will have almost all it`s lights as LED....head lights may be HID, but even these use about half the power of filament lamps. So every little helps, especially if your stood in traffic and all the ICE is changing, and heating in winter.

headlights are LED also on the mk3, no HIDs :)

Once the car is in ready mode the 12v battery is not being used only charged, the Hybrid battery takes on all electrical duties whilst in ready mode.

Interesting, ta for that. I assume there is some sort of stepper to reduce the traction Battery to 12v for most things also?

The inverter/converter unit handles it

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Once the car is in ready mode the 12v Battery is not being used only charged, the Hybrid Battery takes on all electrical duties whilst in ready mode.

Exactly. The car is running on a 1.5 kwh hour HV Battery capable of moving a 1 tonne vehicle at speeds easily upto 30 mph. 55w headlights are a drop in the ocean and 5w sidelights? Well they're insignificant in the scheme of things.

The car uses more energy sitting in traffic running the water pump (200w?) than it does running the sidelights. If energy savings are your only reason then save your money.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Is the water pump really 200watt? Would never have guess that, my pond pump is only about 7 watt, and am sure the central heating pump not much more than about 30.

Having said that I've wondered what the threshold for the pump running is on the PiP, I assume its not running when the ICE is stone cold and used in EV mode?

[IanIanIanIan]

In my PiP I can drive around four miles for one kilowatt hour of charge so 110 Watts for both your headlights for an hour is around 0.4 miles equivalent. Factor that into your petrol cost per mile, say 12p/mile and it is costing around five/six pence an hour to run your headlights.

Up to you to decide if it it worth it?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

In my PiP I can drive around four miles for one kilowatt hour of charge so 110 Watts for both your headlights for an hour is around 0.4 miles equivalent. Factor that into your petrol cost per mile, say 12p/mile and it is costing around five/six pence an hour to run your headlights.

Does it really? Wow. The traditional Prius is 1.5kwh and will drive upto 2 miles on pure electric if you're lucky and already at speed, otherwise it's about a mile. To go 4x the distance on the same electricity would mean the traditional Prius doesn't use much of the 1.5 kwh available or the PIP hammers it's Battery.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

In my PiP I can drive around four miles for one kilowatt hour of charge so 110 Watts for both your headlights for an hour is around 0.4 miles equivalent. Factor that into your petrol cost per mile, say 12p/mile and it is costing around five/six pence an hour to run your headlights.

Does it really? Wow. The traditional Prius is 1.5kwh and will drive upto 2 miles on pure electric if you're lucky and already at speed, otherwise it's about a mile. To go 4x the distance on the same electricity would mean the traditional Prius doesn't use much of the 1.5 kwh available or the PIP hammers it's Battery.

of that 1.5kw Battery though its only using a range probably between 25%-80%, so only 55% of that 1.5kw is 750 watts, assuming its at a 80SOC when you go into EV mode. So the figures you state don't sound too unreasonable for a standard Prius vs a PiP, and don't forget they use different Battery tech also, so the PiP should be returning a better MP/kw range also.

[PeteB]

I think you'll find it's 39%-80%

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I think you'll find it's 39%-80%

Interesting, I know according to the scan gauge on my PiP its about 17%-85%. But obviously that's a difference type of Battery, so may be making some of the difference.

[IanIanIanIan]

It is a general 'rule of thumb' for electric vehicles; 4 miles per kilowatt hour and applies across most EVs.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

It is a general 'rule of thumb' for electric vehicles; 4 miles per kilowatt hour and applies across most EVs.

It's a bit like MPG though, and will vary hugely depending upon vehicle size and speeds involved. Sure I remember reading somewhere the PiP is currently the most economical EV for mp/KW at about 5, with some other EV's being as low as 3.5

[Dizzo]

Thanks for the replies, I think the upshot is that it's not worth it really, but for me it still goes against the grain to have the headlights on powered by batteries only! I have done a little experiment though which seems to support what you're all saying - with everything electrical on I can think of (except the fan heater of course) with the car sat still, the ICE never kicked in although I didn't leave it for so long, and I didn't see the Battery charge display change either.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

The HV Battery will power the pumps and things without the a/c for about 20-30 minutes before the indicator drops a bar or two - depending on the health of the hV Battery of course.

The gen3 Prius always has the HV Battery powering the a/c in summer, though that can eat the battery charge when on high.

[johalareewi]

When my last sidelight blew, I replaced it with these.

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/501-W5W-led-extreme-power-1.5w-360-degree-white-blue-red-amber.html?bulb_search=car

But I notice they now do these (in various light colours)...

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/501-W5W-LED-Interior-Mood-Lighting-and-Dashboard-Bulbs.html?bulb_search=car