Torque Running on Dash-Mounted Tablet
Torque Diagnostic Display on a Toyota Prius Using an ELM327 Adapter
Updated on January 25, 2019

What Is Torque?
The application Torque is available in the Android Play Store in both free and paid versions. The paid version is $5 and is well worth the cost. It's compatible with Bluetooth-equipped Android smartphones.
You can use it to connect to a Bluetooth-compatible ELM327 OBDII adapter. An ELM327 adapter simply provides access to the on-board diagnostics (OBD) interface that has been standard on most vehicles since 1996. OBD performs such functions as reading out diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) and checking the temperature of vehicle fluids, the voltage of oxygen sensors, instantaneous fuel economy, trip fuel economy, and so on. The Bluetooth part is especially important here since it allows you to connect a laptop (using software other than Torque), Android tablet, or smartphone to gain access to diagnostic codes and the information that the vehicle's ECU keeps track of regarding the engine, the transmission and so forth.
Torque will work with the majority of ELM327 adapters available from Amazon or Ebay, and you don't even have to buy a top-of-the-line adapter.
Torque for Android (for Prius)

Using Android Tablet or Phone to Display Info While Driving


ELM327 OBDII Bluetooth Adapters
Many different brands of ELM327 Bluetooth adapters are available. Better-known brands such as the Kiwi Bluetooth Scanner made by PLX Devices are at the more expensive end of the scale. The cheaper ones are produced under random generic-sounding names and the majority of them look exactly alike. These are technically clones, but that hasn't stopped anyone from buying them, and most Torque users have no trouble using the ones at the cheaper end of the spectrum which can be bought or bid on in the $15-$20 range.
Torque Running on Dash-Mounted Tablet
Prius-Specific Information
Even more useful in the case of the Prius, Torque can be used with custom PIDs made available for the Gen 2 Prius (2004-2009 Model Years) or the Gen 3 Prius (Late 2009 to Present Model Years) available for download from PriusChat.com(courtesy of usbseawolf2000). These PIDs let you use Torque to acquire more useful information such as:
- the actual state-of-charge of the high voltage battery pack;
- the voltage of individual groups of batteries (which can be useful in determining the health of high mileage or aging battery packs)'
- and how much you are using regenerative braking rather than friction braking to slow the vehicle down. Regenerative braking charges the battery pack instead of wasting energy turning forward momentum into heat.


