Peugeot ION gear "B" hack leads to turtle mode!

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EX204

Member
Joined
May 4, 2023
Messages
6
Location
Riga, Latvia
Hi,

for both the Peugeot ION and the Renault C-Zero one can add the I-MiEV gears "B" and "C" by simply changing (or modifying, to save money) the gear selector & cover plates, as these both gears are absent for them by design (or rather: can't be selected as the gear shifter & cover plates physically don't provide the ability to shift to the positions).

I did not modify the selector plate yet, but took it out to put the shifter into "B". It worked, the "B" popped up on the display (I could also select "C", and it, too, would be displayed).

Problem:
The selection of "B" seemingly turned my car into turtle mode: the car would not react at all to any input at the accelerator pedal (event when pushed down fully). It would just slowly start to roll, like it does in "D" when the brakes are released. I know that the acceleration is intentionally decreased in mode "B", but there was literally ZERO reaction to the pushing of the accelerator pedal. So there was no "decrease" - there was no reaction at all.

When I went back to "D" (still without the selector plate mounted) the car behaved normal again, and operated like it usually does.

This car is a 16kWh, 47kw ION first registered in October 2014 in Germany. Everything works marvelous, only 26 thousand kilometers mileage.

My thought: maybe Peugeot somehow additionally disabled the "B" and "C" modes, so one can't hack via gear selector plate? Maybe some microswitch, intentionally uninstalled fuse, etc?
 
Hi from Spain.
I own a Citroen C Zero and the same happens to me. C and B gears seem to appear but once in the run, they do not do anything (my guess is that they work as Neutral, there's no response at all).
I suppose is a software anti-hack solution for them...
 
Hi guys!
I own a Peugeot Ion (from 2011/2012).

I did the hack and it worked flawlessly.

Maybe it is related to Citroën flavor?
 
I'll bet the gearbox-mounted selector needs a bit of lube - given it has never travelled this far before and its sticking on 'D'... You might just try moving the selector into 'C' and back 20 times or so and might 'loosen up' enough to work...
 
i agree on year dependant, worked fine on my 2011 ion, i,m guessing peugeot and citroen were nervous about rear-ender/brakelight claims, i use b all the time for the extra regen, but i have to look out for following cars not seeing any brakelights
 
On the MIEV at least, the rotational indexing of the shift position switch on the transmission can be adjusted.
The 2011 models needed a notched metal plate, the 2012 onwards requires two holes to be aligned.
The addition of the B & C positions means the switch has to be moved much further by the cable.
So it's possible that D and R positions are reached, but not B & C, if the switch is slightly out of adjustment.

I wish the MIEV had a zero regen selection, like the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has.

Even C regen is too strong for economical driving.
 
Hi from Spain.
I own a Citroen C Zero and the same happens to me. C and B gears seem to appear but once in the run, they do not do anything (my guess is that they work as Neutral, there's no response at all).
I suppose is a software anti-hack solution for them...
I forgot to say that my model is from Dec 2016... so I understand Citroen was already aware of the hack and took its measures.
Does anybody know about an owner who finally skipped this "software barrier" also?
Is there any way to update (or better downgrade to 2011 factory setting) to achieve B and C gears?
Thanks a lot.
 
On the MIEV at least, the rotational indexing of the shift position switch on the transmission can be adjusted.
The 2011 models needed a notched metal plate, the 2012 onwards requires two holes to be aligned.
The addition of the B & C positions means the switch has to be moved much further by the cable.
So it's possible that D and R positions are reached, but not B & C, if the switch is slightly out of adjustment.

I wish the MIEV had a zero regen selection, like the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has.

Even C regen is too strong for economical driving.
I normally use more times N gear than D... I live in a town near the beach and all I need is a bit of push for letting the car go... 😅
 
"I normally use more times N gear than D"

Yes I could do that, but it requires a lot of "gearstick stirring", whereas the PHEV B0 setting turns regen off all the time.

And can be quickly and easily turned back on for steep hills, with the steering wheel paddles.
 
I forgot to say that my model is from Dec 2016... so I understand Citroen was already aware of the hack and took its measures.
Does anybody know about an owner who finally skipped this "software barrier" also?
Is there any way to update (or better downgrade to 2011 factory setting) to achieve B and C gears?
Thanks a lot.
I read, that there were some software changes in the later models since 2016. The hack doesn't work anymore.
Later i-MiEVs have more sophisticated regen controls behind the steering wheel via paddles in 6 steps (from MY 2018 on).
 
At the same time as the "fix" was implemented, Brakelights under B mode regen were activated (the OVMS external hack isn't needed on anything past 2013)

D mode regen is limited to below the legal threshold for brakelight activation
 
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