Best technique to use EV mode?

Are you asking about EV mode entered by pressing the EV button, EV mode automatically entered while driving, or both?

The general rule for EV mode and good mileage is don't use it. Specifically it is great for moving a short distance in a parking lot or driveway, or creeping in traffic. The is also the special case where you know something in advance that will help you effectively manage your battery SOC. For example, if you have a big downhill on your commute, it's best to hit the downhill with a low SOC so that you have headroom for regeneration.

In other situations you generally cost yourself mileage, since EV mode involves burning gas to make electricity to store in the battery to get back to electricity to move the car. That's a lot of conversions, and each takes a toll.

Tom

 

If you haven't done so yet, I strongly urge you to read the below article once now, and again after you have been experimenting with the car for a couple weeks.

HSI

 

After 10K miles in the Gen3 I haven't used the EV Mode more than 3 or 4 times.

But when I'm about a mile from my house I can drive home on the battery if the engine is warmed up. I enter the engine off (stealth) mode by backing off the throttle at any speed up to 41 MPH, watch the tach for engine speed to drop to 0 RPM, if you keep the ECO bar on the left side you can stay in stealth up to 46 MPH. It's easier for me in ECO Mode because I have better control of the power as indicated on the HSI.

I think that's a valid fuel saving trick because the engine must run anyway when I restart the car to warm itself. After it gets out of stage 1 (or is it 1a) it will put the Amps back in the battery while it continues to warm up.

 

After 2K miles in my first hybrid owned, I always tend to go into EV
mode in a shopping mall parking lot or parking garage. This is
particularly the case just before I park.

The best place that I use the EV mode is in stop and go traffic on
the freeway. All the braking regenerates the SOC to a large degree.
You can stay in the EV mode for miles without not discharging the HV
battery ---- even on a non-flat portion of the freeway. Of course
the 25 mph limit for the EV mode is in effect.

I also always go into EV mode about 3/4 mile before I reach my
garage at home. Tumbleweed posted the reason for doing this. It
just happens that I have to drive less than 25 mph just before I
get to my house.

 

As I read post about the 2010 and EV it seems that the 2010 is limited to 25 MPH in EV mode. If you do not push the EV mode button can you reach 35 MPH with no mode buttons pushed as I can with my 2008 ?
Chuck

 

With the Gen3 if you are not in the EV Mode (i.e. EV button not pushed) you can drive on the battery with the engine off, stealth mode, up to 46 MPH but you need to be under 41 MPH to enter that mode of operation. It also requires the engine to be warm, have some charge in the battery over 2 bars, and not to much throttle. If I remember correctly you should be able to get up to 41 MPH in stealth mode with the Gen2 if you are careful with the throttle.

 

It's basically useless for most of us.

 

A couple of days ago, I got up to 26 mph without the ICE coming on--as far as I could tell. I was crawling through a traffic jam on the interstate. I was in Eco mode at the time.

I see the folks who say you can do better--up to 41 or 46. Has anyone actually done that--accellerating to the 40's on battery power (as opposed to using battery power only when decelerating from high speed)?

 

My apology for some misinformation, sorry about the "brain fade". Post revised, accelerating on the battery alone is not as easy as I originally thought.

I have done this but I tried it tonight and I can't get over 40 without the engine starting. It may be better to just drive up to that speed, say 40 MPH, with the engine on then release the throttle and let it turn itself off. If you want to try it acceleration has to be very leisurely, with the gen3 use the HSI display and keep the bar to the left side of the center. It's a little tougher to judge with the Gen2 as I recall. I live in a part of the state that has little traffic so for me accelerating slowly is not a problem for other traffic, at least some of the time. Of course when I am not interested in using battery only, which is most of the time, I accelerate more briskly so as not to waste fuel.

I obviously have not been doing this the way this post originally read. After my attempt tonight I think what I must do is drive up to the speed using the engine then let it shut down. I think it might be a bad idea to try do go all the way from 0 MPH up to 40 MPH on battery anyway. It takes to much charge out of the battery and you don't have enough left to go very far.

 

Tumbleweed,
How briskly do you accellerate so as not to waste fuel? How often do you go into the PWR zone on HSI?
Do you act differently going uphill?
Thanks.

 

I owe an apology (see post 11), I can't get up to 46 (or even 41) MPH on battery alone on level terrain today. I tried it tonight and the best I could do was about 40 and that took a long time. It was raining but I'm not sure that makes that much difference. I have revised my previous post.

For normal acceleration I go into the red zone or even past it because I think it actually uses less gas to accelerate up to speed more quickly and spend less time doing it. I'm sure others may disagree and I am trying to devise a test that could determine how much throttle to use but it may depend on a lot of conditions such as temperature, grade, etc. Accelerating very slowly wastes fuel and accelerating to rapidly wastes fuel so the idea is to find what, between two extremes, is the best rate. I don't hesitate to use full throttle when entering a freeway if I need it to merge with traffic. I think a burst of poor mileage over such a short distance isn't going to effect overall trip mileage much.

 

I've done it in Eco-mode after making a quick turn onto a road with a posted speed of 45 a few times. I have not tried to get up to 46 just on battery. That would be painfully slow.