2004 Toyota Prius

If your Toyota Prius has a 100k miles or more, it’s time to change the CVT Transmission fluid.  Toyota doesn’t recommend a service interval but after much research and discussion with Prius experts, I have decided to perform this service at 100k mile intervals.  It is a petroleum-based lubricant and will eventually become dirty and lose some lubricity.

Toyota Prius CVT Transmission Fluid Change - Fluid Condition

This is not a difficult job.  Anyone with some mechanical knowledge and basic tools can perform this maintenance task.

Parts List

• Four quarts of Toyota ATFWS transmission fluid
• Two new Toyota CVT drain/fill plug gaskets
• Torque wrench
• 10mm allen socket
• socket extension
• oil drain pan
• section of plastic tubing and funnel that fits in the tube end
• Carpenter’s level
• rags

Prius Transmission Fluid Change - Tools

Maintenance Steps

1. Drive the car around to warm up the fluid. This will make it flow easily for draining.
2. Put the car in Park, turn it off and set the emergency brake.
3. Drive the front of the Prius onto ramps.
4. Open the passenger side door and place a level on the door jamb.
   

   Leveling the Prius

5. Have an assistant watch the level while you jack up the rear of the vehicle using a heavy duty jack. Once the car is level, place two jackstands underneath for extra insurance. You are now ready to change the fluid. (if you don’t level the car, you won’t be able to get the correct fill level in the transmission.)
   

   Jacking up the Prius rear to level

6. Climb under the vehicle and locate the drain and fill plugs on the CVT transmission. Find two 10mm Allen plugs on the end of the transaxle. The fill plug is just behind where the right wheel half shaft comes out of the transaxle. The drain plug is down and further to the left. The inverter coolant drain is on the bottom, the two we are interested in are on the end of the unit (toward the passenger’s side).
7. Remove the fill plug. Both plugs will be tight and you may need some leverage. Always remove the fill plug first!
   

   Dirty Prius CVT Drain Plug

8. Remove the drain plug and drain the old fluid into a pan.
9. When it is finished draining, put the drain plug back and tighten to 29 ft-lbs. with a torque wrench. Use the new washers purchased from Toyota when buying the ATF fluid.
   

   Toyota Prius Clean CVT Drain and Fill Plugs

10. I snaked a hose down between the inverters and the firewall right over the fill plug and stuck it in the fill hole. Put a small funnel in the hose and started poring in the fluid. Use Toyota ATFWS purchased from the dealer. Don’t use anything else. This is a precision instrument and this fluid is designed for it. Anything else is risky and you’re only going to do this once every 100k miles.
11. After adding 3 quarts, have an assistant watch while you slowly pour about another half quart in. Once it starts to come out of the hole, stop pouring.
    

    Toyota Prius CVT Transmission Fill Funnel and Tube

12. Insert the fill plug with a new washer and tighten to 29 ft/lbs. with a torque wrench.
13. Check for leaks after putting away tools and funnel.
14. Remove jack stands and jack. Drive car off of ramps. You’re done! Drive around and know that you are taking good care of your Prius!

2004 Toyota Prius

In September of 2011, I sold my wife’s Jetta TDI and started looking for a fuel efficient, sustainable vehicle for her to drive with an automatic transmission.

I try to make sustainability an important part of all my life decisions including purchasing a car.  Here are the prioritized criteria I used for the decision:

1. I want to buy a used car so I’m recycling an existing vehicle and not introducing another new vehicle into the global fleet.
2. I want a fuel efficient car that uses as little petroleum as possible for the distance I cover.
3. I want a vehicle that can use alternative/renewable fuel sources other than petroleum.
4. I want a reliable car that won’t require tons of maintenance and parts replacement to keep it running.

After much research, I found that the second generation Toyota Prius built from 2004 to 2009 is a very reliable, fuel efficient vehicle that uses electricity for a portion of its propulsion.  While electricity isn’t always produced from renewable fuel sources, it definitely has that as an option.  I can eventually install a plugin kit where I can charge it with solar or any other fuel source that I can use to generate electricity.

I spent a month researching the Prius using online resources like Priuschat to determine the right questions to ask and troubleshooting inspection points to check when buying a used Prius.  Here are some of the questions and troubleshooting points I used:

1. Check Carfax for the vehicle accident report.  I didn’t want a wrecked and rebuilt Prius.  The Synergy drive systems are complex and there is risk that rebuilding the car might not be done correctly.
2. Do a complete visual inspection inside and out making note of any visible problems with the vehicle.  This includes testing all of the features such as lock/unlock buttons, window operation, gauge operation, lighting, tires, undercarriage, etc.
3. Use troubleshooting sequences to verify condition of the primary and auxiliary battery systems
4. Check fluid levels and condition
5. Look for a Check Engine light.  Make sure stop, drive and start the car at least three or four times to make sure the Check Engine light wasn’t reset by the owner before the test drive.  If you get a check engine light, ask to drive it to a local Toyota dealer and have them pull the codes and give you an estimate on the repair.  Some codes like coolant valve malfunctions can be hundreds of dollars in labor to fix and are only repairable by a Prius-certified service shop with proper equipment.
6. Most Toyota dealerships will do a free pre-sale multi-point inspection of any Prius.  Find one and get it done.  You won’t be disappointed and can negotiate price using this report.

Once you are satisfied with the condition of the vehicle and make the purchase, here are the suggested updates to make on the car after purchase:

Reconditioning Steps:

1. Change all fluids.  This is an easy DIY project except for the inverter coolant.  If the previous owner doesn’t have proof of an inverter coolant flush and the car has over 100k miles, go ahead and get it done by the dealer.  Otherwise, wait until you get a check engine light for any coolant-related issues to change the inverter coolant and make sure they perform the flush during the service.
2. Change the spark plugs using Toyota or OEM equivalent spark plugs.  Get the right ones for best performance.  The good news is most Toyota dealerships have good parts pricing and you won’t save much by shopping elsewhere if you are buying the correct OEM replacement parts.
3. Change the PCV valve if you have 100k miles or more.  These eventually clog from carbon deposits and the check valve sticks.  This will affect driving performance and/or fuel economy.
4. Change the CVT transmission fluid.  I’m singling out this fluid change since it isn’t recommended by Toyota but should be done at least every 100k miles.  It does get dirty and running any petroleum-based product for more than 100k miles or more isn’t a good idea. (especially since these 2nd generation Priuses can run over 300k miles before needing an overhaul)
5. Have a Toyota dealer or a good independent shop check the brakes and suspension for wear.  Repair or replace worn components.

Once this is complete, you should be ready to go for a long, sustainable auto life!

1. Increasing our domestic production of oil in a responsible and sound manner

2. Increasing our investment and production of next generation biofuels

Watch the video and learn more about Obama’s plans to help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil to make our country more secure.

Tesla Model S

The next two years will be an exciting time in the world of transportation. Not only will hybrid cars plug in to charge but battery electric vehicles will be an option at your local car dealership. While there is much debate regarding the range of the first mainstream EVs, there is a new class of electric vehicle that should calm your range anxiety.

Meet the Tesla Model S.

What makes it different from the Nissan LEAF and other BEV offerings? Tesla Motors does a good job of describing this in their own words below:

The Model S is the premium sedan evolved. It will raise the bar of vehicle efficiency, meet the highest standards for safety, and provide more cargo space than any other sedan. It will be as beautiful as it is functional. Here’s how we will build it. The Model S will be produced at the new Tesla Factory in Fremont, California. Everything from body panel stamping to final quality testing will take place at the Tesla Factory. We will also work to set environmental benchmarks for energy efficiency and emission levels.

Interesting. This reads right out of an ad for a new Lexus or BMW model release. If you read this out of context, you would never know this was referring to a battery electric vehicle. Let’s lift the cover and take a closer look at what makes the Tesla Model S special.

Earlier this year, Tesla Motors finalized a loan from the Department of Energy for $465 million dollars to build a plant to manufacture the Model S. By May, Tesla had penned an agreement with Toyota Motor Co. to purchase their NUMMI plant in Fremont, California. Not only did Toyota sell this state of the art plant to Tesla, but after the President of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, drove a Tesla Roadster, they closed a deal later that month to invest $50 million in Tesla Motors. “To put it simply, I felt the wind, the wind of the future,” were Toyoda’s words after driving the battery electric super car.

Tesla will retool the plant for the Tesla Model S but will retain the Toyota Production System of the NUMMI plant that has proved revolutionary in the automotive industry and has been copied by every major auto manufacturer. The new plant will have the capacity to produce up to 500,000 new vehicles each year. Tesla hopes to produce 20,000 Model S vehicles in the first 12 months and scale up from there.

From the advanced metal stamping to the state of the art assembly line, the Model S will be produced with the same quality control and top of the line components you would expect from a luxury sedan. It will have all of the expected safety features such as crumple zones and air bags as well as any additional features that will help Tesla reach a five star safety rating. (this is one of their goals) What makes the Model S different is it’s use of low VOC paints and sustainable practices during the manufacturing process. Of course, the electric drivetrain and state of the art, liquid cooled battery pack make it stand apart from your typical internal combustion engined vehicle.

Once the car is assembled, it will go through a series of quality tests before it is ready for delivery. This includes a rolling test that simulates road test ing that identifies any loose, noisy or misfit parts so they can be replaced or refitted before delivery. A leak test is also performed to identify any sealing issues with the body. Instead of wasting many gallons of water, Tesla will use an ultrasonic test to identify leaks without using up natural resources by spraying the car with water.

What about the range anxiety? Tesla’s Model S has three options for battery packs: 160 mile, 230 mile and 300 mile range packs. Pick the pack that fits your lifestyle. In addition, you don’t have to sacrifice performance for range. The Model S is capable of 120 mph speed and will reach 60 mph in less than 6 seconds. When it’s time to recharge, you can choose from any standard outlet or a dedicated station that can perform a 45 minute QuickCharge. If you have an extra battery pack, with quick-release adapters, the pack can be swapped in around a minute.

Will the Model S sell at a $50,000 price tag? If the sales of the Lexus brand are any indication, the answer is YES. In 2007, Lexus sold over 300,000 vehicles in the US and 500,000 worldwide. The MSRP for Lexus ranges from $35,000 to over $80,000. Based on these numbers, Tesla should be able to find buyers for their first 20,000 vehicles they produce in the first 12 months. Nissan has already sold out of orders for their first 20,000 LEAF BEVs and they only have 100 mile range.

So if you were wondering if the future looks bright in America, I would say it looks brighter than the stark white walls of Tesla’s NUMMI plant that will help produce some of the first fruits of the Clean Energy Revolution.

I am a regular blogger in the Mapawatt Community and you’ll find this post and others on the Mapawatt Blog.  Come join us in the discussion of Electric Vehicles including the Nissan LEAF, Tesla, Chevy Volt and others in the Electric Vehicles Forum in the Transportation section of the Mapawatt Community!

Dear Mr. Marx,

I would like to offer a suggestion for a new marketing program to help promote the upcoming Nissan Leaf electric vehicle this winter.  For each Nissan Leaf sold, offer to donate a percentage of the purchase price to the Gulf Oil Spill relief effort.  Give the purchaser the choice of either directing the donation to the cleanup effort or to the relief effort for the many people affected by this environmental catastrophe.  This program will not just promote a great new vehicle, it will give Leaf owners the opportunity to help those affected by our addiction to petroleum.

Just as we have done in catastrophes such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake, Americans want to help.  It’s called the “American Spirit.”  One of the best things we can do to help prevent future problems like this is to help Americans take steps toward freedom from an addiction to petroleum.  Buying a Nissan Leaf and demanding that local and state governments provide charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is an important step forward.

I hope you will take my suggestions to heart and offer this program when you launch the Nissan Leaf this year.

Best Wishes,

Powell
NotPetroleum.com

Electric Light Rail System in Salt Lake City, Utah

While visiting Salt Lake City this week, I rode one of UTA Trax’s electric light rail cars.  I didn’t have a place to go or somewhere I had to be at the time.  I just wanted to go for a ride because an electric streetcar is fun to ride for a clean energy enthusiast. We don’t have streetcars in Atlanta anymore so this was my opportunity to experience what was a part of everyday life for city dwellers in the early 1900′s.  I couldn’t wait to buy my ticket and go for a ride!

Light rail is thought of as a utilitarian form of public transportation.  However, our grandparents used it both as a way to get from point A to B and as a form of entertainment.  In the late eighteen hundreds and the early nineteen hundreds, street cars and light rail were commonplace in most metropolitan areas.  My wife’s grandparents remember riding the street car on Peachtree Street in Atlanta in their Sunday best after church.  They didn’t have a destination.  The streetcar was the destination and the entertainment.  There was a slower pace of life that allowed people to often enjoy the trip more than where they were going.

Street Cars Stacked in a Junkyard, 1956

So what happened to this form of entertainment?  Some will tell you that mass production of the automobile in 1908 was the catalyst that doomed the electrified streetcar to the scrapyard.  Others will speak of the National City Lines conspiracy where companies representing autos, tires and the oil industry formed a company that pressured city governments to pave over rails and send the streetcars to the junkyard to make way for internal combustion engine-powered buses that needed tires and petroleum to run.  Internal Combustion by Edwin Black has detailed research on this theory.  I hoped that my experience on this electric rail car would help me form an opinion after reading studies on most of these theories.

I purchased my full fare ticket and waited for the next rail car to arrive at the station.  When the cars pulled up, I pushed a button, the doors opened and I climbed up for a ride.  The first thing I noticed when sitting down was the familiar surroundings from riding city buses and subway trains growing up.  After sitting down and looking around, I could have easily been on a diesel bus.  The sounds were familiar.  Beeping from the warning system that the doors will be closing and the rushing sound of air from the climate control system was very familiar.  As we pulled away from the station, the only missing sound was the roar of a diesel bus engine.

Here’s what I noted from my short excursion:

Riding streetcars isn’t much different from riding a subway. They have a set path and don’t deviate from it.  Buses have set routes but they can be easily changed by providing new directions to a bus driver.  Light rail requires laying new tracks and integrating it into existing tracks before the route can be changed.

There were still lots of cars on the road.  It was obvious that having a streetcar in Salt Lake City didn’t cause most drivers to get rid of their cars and ride public transportation.  The street car I was riding on was half full but there were lots more cars driving all around us.  It is clear to me that there are two requirements for the adoption of clean public transportation: building the light rail system and convincing people to use it.

A great way to see the sites. I picked a route that took me straight through the city by the convention center, temple square and the stadium.  I could have easily stepped off of the train, visited the sites and stepped back on the next street car.  However, I was there for the ride and could see the Mormon temple from the outside and the rest of the sites with ease.

My overall impression of the electric streetcar was that it is a functional and clean form of transportation that should be pursued by most cities.  While current sources of electric power are not clean, building electric transportation systems and vehicles will help us prepare for more cleaner sources of electric power that will replace coal as the grid is updated over time.

Modern Light Rail Cars in France

Currently, electric light rail is very common in Europe and more than fifty US cities have deployed electric light rail with many cities in the process of planning electric light rail systems, including Atlanta, the home of NotPetroleum blog.

My hope is that we’ll see a revitalization in urban areas in the US with electric light rail and street cars for public transportation.  Not only will it reduce our consumption of petroleum but it will help us to reconnect with our neighbors and fellow citizens.  Driving carpool in a minivan is a very isolating experience.  You can ask any Mom or Dad who has this daily duty.  Imagine jumping on an electric tram with other neighbors and heading to the grocery store, dry cleaners or even school?

As I ride down Main street Salt Lake City, I realize that light rail is a part of the solution for our clean energy future.  There will need to be many innovations and solutions to help foster adoption of clean transportation but electric light rail should surely play a role in weaning us from our addiction to petroleum.

Bloom Energy and the Electric Car

Bloom Energy, after operating in secrecy for more than eight years, has now unveiled a fuel cell that could change the way we think of energy and the grid.  Bloom introduced a potentially game-changing product that could provide us with a local, on-demand power source with the potential to help us power new devices that will wean us from dependence on petroleum.  Today, mass adoption of electric vehicles is a threat to the stability of our centralized power grid.  Local power generation solutions will help reduce the load on the grid as we shift to alternative sources of power and mobility.

At the heart of the Bloom Energy Server is a solid oxide fuel cell with some proprietary innovations that allow it to enter the market as a solution that rivals efficiency and price of any existing fuel cell.

Exotic Metal Catalyst?

One of the limitations of most fuel cells is they require the use of exotic metals such as platinum and palladium for the anode and cathode.  Solid oxide fuel cells are able to use more traditional alloys for catalysts since the electrolyte is a dry, ceramic material.  In the case of the Bloom Energy Server, the cells use a “sand-like” substance for the electrolyte wafer.  The anode and cathode consist of proprietary “inks” that are applied to the electrolyte and stacked together to build the cell.

Ceramic electrolyte with anode and cathode "inks"

Fuel Source?

Fuel cells in the Bloom Energy Server can use several different types of fuel sources including renewable or fossil-based gases.  In the current Energy Servers, there are installations that operate both on natural gas and reclaimed bio-gas.  According to Sridhar in a 60 Minutes interview, the fuel cells can even be powered by solar.  We believe that he is referring to the Energy Servers’ ability to reverse the reaction and create oxygen and fuel from an energy source.  If this is the case, the energy source could be from solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, biodiesel generators or conventional grid electricity.

Distributed Grid Security vs. the Centralized Grid

One of the features of the Bloom Energy Server is its ability to generate electricity at the point of consumption.  With the traditional electricity grid, power is generated at a central plant and then distributed to the point of consumption using transmission lines.  In route to the point of consumption these lines can lose as much as 80% of the generated electricity.  The Bloom Energy Server is located at or near the point of consumption and converts the fuel into electricity without requiring any loss of efficiency through transmitting the power over long distances.  By using this model of power generation, the Energy Server will always be more efficient at generating electricity than the current national grid.

With mainstream electric vehicles hitting the market by 2011, the Bloom Energy Servers are a timely innovation.  My hope is that residential versions of these fuel cells will arrive before Bloom’s projected date of 2015 (at the earliest)