Putting the PHV through it's paces in the hot desert... (Rick's turn for the PHV)

I prefer to think in overall consumption.

Speaking of which, end of day stats (after a lunch outing and a detour to the in-laws on the way home):

Distance: 53.0 miles
Balance: 21% EV, 79% HV
Overall MPG: 67.7mpg
Overall average speed: 31mph

Random notes:

* In Eco, the PHEV HVAC system is more "willing" to use fresh air. This morning, I had the A/C set to 78°F and the outside ambient was 97°F. I caught a sudden wiff of "farm smells" on my way end. Looked down, and the air selector had automatically moved to Fresh. I would not have seen that in my car.
* Today was particularly humid on top of the heat. Temps were 108°F on the way home, and anything but dry. This, and my more "typical" driving style probably contributed to the lower overall numbers. The day also ended with a ~1 mile short trip from the in-laws, including a "punch-it" dart across a busy intersection, 3 kids in the car, and A/C that was battling heat and humidity.
* I did see level cruising instantaneous MPGs at 45-50mph well above 100mpg (120ish). The "graph" agreed as it was pegged to 100mpg. Engine was loping along in the low 1000's of RPMs. I'm going to pay particular attention to see if this is reproducible in my Prius.

 

Trying something a bit different for today's overall driving. My daughter had an extra early morning, so I ended up taking her to school, then coming home to plug-in again. 4.6 mile RT, 8.8 miles remaining, and will take 1.3 hours to recharge. 90°F ambient, and I didn't realize I tripped the car out of Eco mode. I'm going to keep the trip and EV/HV going for today's total.

 

Ratio? For the first trip, 100% EV for 4.6 miles. I then plugg-ed in for a 1.3 hour "top-off".

Total trip to work, including the previous EV trip:
* 27 miles
* 56% EV, 44% HV.
* EV range ended at 16 miles even, making only 11.4 miles EV. I completed the EV range during the on-ramp to the freeway.
* Unfortunately, I did trip the ICE during the first mile in a somewhat aggressive unprotected left, however that saved me from the 1.6 mile "warm-up".
* I noted that the warm-up ends when coolant is 140˚F. The temp was 128˚F by the onramp. Ambient temp was 102˚F.
* Scangauge MPG was 115mpg as I pulled in, but after I parked, it dropped to 114mpg w/o the ICE running (a bit fishy on how it's calculating this). Note - this is ONLY for the trip from home after the 2nd plug-in, and doesn't account for 4.6 miles of "infinite" MPG. Assuming I burned 0.195 gallons of gas (22.4/115 = n, 27/n = mpg), that makes 138.6 MPG for the morning.

This shows if you have time, plugging in can increase your EV%, but overall didn't do much for my "to work" MPG, partially because it caused me to leave later when it was hotter out. Had I known better, I would have

 

I don't know the precise chemistry, but I believe they are *NOT* Lithium Polymer due to the perceived "dangers" they carry.

We also know that it is unlikely that Toyota will continue the Main + 2 sub architecture, but that the main + sub was adopted to more easily "tack on" to the existing architecture w/o completely redesigning. I would imagine either one larger pack, or a main + 1 larger sub. However - if Toyota were to adopt a modular, upgradeable range feature, adding additional subs would allow such flexibility.

 

Despite the different chemistry for different purposes, whatever they're using does "work better" in the PHV, delivering better hybrid MPG despite the heavier weight.

Today's driving: Adding to the phenomenal effort from this morning, I added a typical 4 mile lunch short trip which barely gets the engine to operating temp (no pre-charge), but ambient @ 113°F (coolant started at 128°F). Trip home was my "normal route" at 106°F ambient using my more typical "keep up with traffic" style. Monsoon storm (the kind that destroys Palo Verde trees) blew through, dropping temps into the 90s before we went out to dinner as a family (no pre-charge), came back to drop kids off, then ran to the store (short trip, but ICE was near operating temp).

Stats for the day:

61.6 miles for the day.
67.6mpg overall.
28mph average.
24% EV, 76% HV.

While out at the store, I added gas to the car. Took 5.12 gallons, but I know it didn't arrive completely full.

Trip B stats (since I received the car):
277.1 miles
70.9 mpg
29mph average

I did a decent amount (15+ miles between two charges) of EV driving Saturday which helped to bolster the overall figure.

I plan to take the kids to school and finally give my wife an EV ride (today was the first time she rode in it, but not in full EV). She hasn't been awake or well enough to enjoy it previously. After that, I'll park it on the curb where it'll await it's driver to take it back to CA. The kids will miss "Beauty Electra" - I know I will. Kinda makes it hard to look at my 2010 - knowing it could do more. Despite that, unless I could get a reliable plug solution at work, I couldn't justify any sort of conversion for my car.

 

Took our last trip this morning - 100% EV for 9.4 miles - I gave it a 10-15 min top-off between trips that added maybe 1 mile. In the end, I still had 4-5 miles of EV range remaining, and a full tank of gas.

End stats:

73.4mpg over 287.6 miles (that's 3.92 gallons), 28mph average. This is my "real world" blend of "just drive it" and eco-common-sense driving (braking early, moderate acceleration, keeping up w/ traffic that's 5-10mph over on rural streets). Environment is hot and/or humid days w/ a reasonable A/C setting (78˚F) in Eco mode. Not a whole lot of elevation change between destinations (2-300ft at most over 23 miles).

Final thoughts:

This would be a fantastic car for my wife who does mostly "around town" driving, and only averages in the mid 30mpg range in our 2004 (she'll sit and wait for the kids at the bus stop w/ the A/C running). This type of car could easily double or triple her fuel economy, removing the ICE burden for these trips. Problem is, we need it in a car larger than the Prius to double as a long-trip vehicle so that I can maintain the Prius or similar smaller car as my daily driver. I predict a plug-in hybrid version of a mini-van is quite a ways out, especially since a regular hybrid mini-van has yet to hit US shores. If costs were ever reasonable, a plug-in Mini-van would save quite a bit of fuel if it had reasonable range for the average "grocery run" or "take the kids to school and back" type of trip. Doing so on 15-20¢ of electricity (charging @ night or off-peak) makes for a quicker cost recoup.

For my situation, it definitely improved my overall fuel economy by at least 25mpg. I attribute that to the improved hybrid-only economy that the design changes offer and the ability to plug-in for the morning trip. I believe that number would be higher if I could plug-in at work as well. That said, I don't think the pricing numbers would make sense for a PHV with this range in my use case. The EV range is typically fully consumed by the time I make it to the freeway, after which point, the batteries are "dead" weight. If plugging in at work were an option, that could change somewhat.

Now that I'm back in my current 2010 Prius, I do put a bit more thought into it's performance. Being lighter, it's quicker to respond to the go pedal. I do miss the quicker ratio steering from the PHV. I can say I'm glad to have my solar roof back, as well as the premium audio. Most of all, I'm glad I have my Bluetooth hands-free phone back. I'm sure the final PHV will get most of these features as well as they're "musts" for my (and many others') commuter vehicle.

Having the PHV was a good excuse to quickly acquire a ScanGauge II, which will no doubt, come in handy for my own car. It was slightly disappointing (and curious all the same) that the XGAUGEs are either different or unavailable for the most interesting battery stats (nobody's fault, it's a long-term work in progress). Some gauges that would be fun to figure out would include amps, SOC for each pack, battery voltage, etc. Then again, only AMPs are available for the 2010, so there wouldn't be a whole lot to compare.

All in all - the PHV will prove massive gains for a specific type of driver who has the ability to plug in at home (and ideally at work), provided Toyota can maintain a good "range to price" value.