ScanGauge II – Prius Gen 4 XGauges – Observations on State of Charge

[GreenJuice]

The first XGauges for the 2016 Gen 4 Prius are just being published.
Here are my initial observations with a new XGauge for HV Battery State of Charge (SOC).

[waqar_lionheart]

That's awesome information. Thanks mate.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[barrycoll]

Will Carissa give same info as scanguage2?

[GreenJuice]

Will Carissa give same info as scanguage2?

I'm not an expert on Carissa, but my understanding is that it is a App that allows you to configure your car's settings, including the 'dealer only' settings like the reverse beep and sensitivity of the proximity sensors.

I have not explored any functionality relating to the continuous monitoring of the car's functions during use. ScanGauge comes with a number of basic monitoring displays like RPM and coolant temperature. You can then program additional gauges (called XGauges) to monitor other communications from the car's computer (ECU) like this one. SG also allows you to see your true GPS speed as opposed to the indicated speed!

One important different I am aware of. SG switches off automatically as soon as the car is switched off. The Carissa bluetooth OBD connector remains on and will drain your 12V Battery over time, so I suspect will not be as suitable for daily or continuous use.

HTH

[PeteB]

9 hours ago, GreenJuice said:

...One important different I am aware of. SG switches off automatically as soon as the car is switched off. The Carissa Bluetooth OBD connector remains on and will drain your 12V battery over time, so I suspect will not be as suitable for daily or continuous use.

Quite right.  I used a bluetooth OBD connector on my Gen 3 Prius with Torque software on my Android phone.

It did enable resetting of things like the reversing beep and indeed did stay active when the car was off (which allowed me to watch the 12V Battery vantage drop after turning off).  I always unplugged it when leaving the car.  I gather there are some dongles that go to standby after a while.

I haven't had time to look for settings for the Gen 4 Prius, but I suspect they're available to download by now.

One issue I did have was that, having got my dealer to turn off the reversing beep when I took delivery, the first time I plugged in the (admittedly cheap eBay) dongle it switched it back on, and I had to hunt around for the way of turning it off again.  Someone on the Torque forum suggested it was the Dongle scanning for the settings it needed, and told me how to enter them manually, after which I had no more problems.

It was great to be able to see a Rev counter for the engine, MG1 & 2, along with coolant and cabin temperatures, true speed, HV energy flow and State of Charge.

[barrycoll]

So will the SG2 offer functionality/ reconfiguring options as well as dash gauges, is th thing?

The Carista obd device does need an iPad, iPhone etc to view the screen, but the SG could sit on some part of the dash panel, with stuff like engine temp/ revs on permanent display.......just four times the price.

 

[GreenJuice]

SG2 is primarily designed to be used as additional gauges and a trip computer on the dash. It will also help you decipher and clear any error codes, but (touch wood) I have not had reason to use those functions.

The trip computer does a variety of different calculations, many also available on the Gen4 Prius, but it is also reassuring to have an independent and differently calculated 'distance to empty' verification when running low on fuel.

SG2 can be used for some limited reconfiguring options once someone figures out and posts the XGauge codes for them. At the moment there are such codes for the Gen 3; single reverse beep for example, but nothing yet for the Gen 4. The reconfiguring options are few and not as extensive as using Carista.

It is pricey, but you can take it from car to car. You can also daisy chain them together, so over the years I ended up getting two; which I now have mounted using sticky back Velcro on the dash, to show eight gauges on permanent display as I drive.

Some of these I use as a substitute to having to switch screens on the main car display. Others to get information not available on the standard car displays.

RPM informs reliably when the engine is on, particularly when the road noise makes it difficult to tell.

Coolant temperature helps to decide the right time to heat the cabin if you want to use as little fuel as possible.

Battery temperature helps you monitor someone / something accidentally blocking the vents around the rear seats; or when you should be using cabin air-con on really hot summer days.

Torques displays look much better on the colour LED phone screens. SG2s are very basic monochrome LCD displays.

[barrycoll]

Excellent green juice, and thanks for the heads-up

Will leaving the SG 'plugged in' to the OBD drain the Battery, as the Carista will?

interestingly though, does the 'distance to empty', vary between SG2 and Prius gauges?

....and where do you mount the unit in your Gen 4?