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Just FYI, the heat exchanger for the power inverter is in the lower section of the radiator. So if you block the lower grille, the inverter will run hotter. I don't think the car gains any benefit from the inverter warming up faster. But if you block the upper grille instead, it will warm up the engine faster.
I'm also trying to mod a Gen2 Prius for more fuel efficiency. But I'm not very good with electronics. So I'm focusing on the mechanical & aero stuff instead.
I noticed that sometimes my car turns on the gasoline engine when it really isn't needed (engine is warmed up, battery has good charge, coasting along). But if I let off the throttle just a tiny bit, the engine shuts off. So IMO the "engine turn-on" algorithm could use some fine-tuning. But I'm not sure if there's any way to adjust the ECU programming.
So I developed a tactic of getting to a coasting speed, then letting off the gas pedal to turn off the gas engine. Then I get back on the throttle to maintain coasting speed (and hopefully not turn the engine back on). I call it "gaming the gas pedal". And I've been able to achieve coasting speeds up to 40 mph with the engine off (level road, minimal wind, etc).
But it would be nice to have a switch or a button to force the gas engine off. Or tweak the ECU programming to make the gas engine usage more conservative. Anyway, I'm looking forward to what you accomplish with the electronics.
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