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For its part, Toyota recognizes that some Prius owners will want to hack their cars, but the company doesn't condone the behavior.
"There are people out there who have hacked into the system," said Bill Kwong, a Toyota spokesman. "The tech is out there for technicians. But we don't encourage consumers to do that."
Speaking about the hack that allows Prius owners to use the navigation system while driving, Kwong added, "It is hazardous. It's like talking on the phone or shaving while you're operating the vehicle."
But to Watson, whose company sells a system that allows use of the navigation system while driving, that's exactly the point.
"It's an odd situation," Watson said, emphasizing that Coastal Electronics thinks the system should only be used by the passenger in a Prius. "You can use the radio (and other equipment while driving). It's an arbitrary thing as to what is safe and what is not."
Pizer is also a fan of the hack that allows American Prius owners to switch their hybrids to all-electric mode while driving locally at low speeds. She hasn't installed the system yet that enables the on-the-fly switchover, but expects to soon.
And she's perplexed as to why the button that automatically performs the switch on European and Japanese Priuses is missing in the U.S.
"There's a blank spot on my dashboard where the button is supposed to go," Pizer said. "I mean, the whole point of getting this kind of vehicle is supposed to be reducing our use of fossil fuels."
The fact that the feature isn't available in the U.S. may have to do with the way the Environmental Protection Agency measures fuel efficiency in the U.S., and that such a dual-power system would upset such measurements, said Coastal Electronics' Watson.
Kwong said Toyota doesn't offer the switch to electric mode because of U.S. laws mandating that it offer a minimum eight-year warranty for the car's power system. Thus, he said, by disabling the switch, the company is able to ensure a longer battery life.
Torrone said that he thinks Prius owners are likely to keep the hybrid car among the most popular vehicles for hacking for the foreseeable future.
"I think that this might be the new hackable car platform, as there's more (and more) information out there" about the Prius' electronic systems, said Torrone. "Some of this is dangerous, but that's OK. So was modding cars in the 1950s. I think it's all the same, there's just more electricity involved now."
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Toyota Prius, hybrid car, hack, hacking, owner






- by joevitale May 4, 2009 10:50 AM PDT
- OK
<br />So how do I get rid of the anoying "beep" on my 2009 prius??
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