My PHEV PRIUS Test: Apples vs Oranges

bad: More weight feel; does not have HUD, have to return it tomorrow

good: A very breathtaking EV mode ; and also confirms 195-15inch are adequate for a Prius ; good with the cord (~3,5kwh for 20km); good without the cord also


The rest, same as our ZVW30: gentle ICE running in, good acceleration, excelent MPG while in HV, good room.

 

In Pt they came with SKS, Navigation except rear camera, no HUD and no rain sensor/wiper blade (it's manual, as for what I've seen/used)...

 

Does the car give you any information about how much gas is burned in EV mode (such as driving on the highway over 62mph)?

I read some speculation that burning gas in EV mode would just time shift your EV miles to later when you didn't have to use gas. Do you find coming off the highway that there is an extended EV range available or did your EV miles go down while driving over 62mph?

 

EV miles left go down at the same, because the majority of energy comes from batt during EV. No shift, that I was aware of.

 

Well, the alternative is that the excess energy makes a big rainbow behind the car.

I know Volt fans love to wave the 62 mph limit of the Prius PHV as if it was a big deal, but you and most other Volt fans do not really understand the limit. > 62 mph does not mandate petrol consumption, it mandates ICE spin. Nothing prevents the ICE spin energy to be sourced from the traction battery if the demand is low enough and the battery SOC is high enough (how low and how high are software determined.) I travel in 'EV' mode at greater than 62 mph in my Prius routinely, although the window of SOC and power demand is narrow.

IF the ICE consumes fuel and thereby sends energy to the transmission, less energy will be demanded from the traction battery. This is how the HSD works. It does not matter if the traction battery is my Prius' measly 0.6 kwh, or something greater.

If I demand 20 kw --
and 15 kw comes from the ICE, 5 kw comes from the battery
or if 20 kw comes from the ICE, 0 kw comes from the battery ...

 

I assure you I do understand, and I don't think it is a big negative for the PHV, in fact I think it is its strength, using the most efficient power system all the time is how it gets the best mileage in the world. I think the PHV is a great idea.

I am curious about how the car uses the available fuel sources. I suspected, as telmo744 confirmed, that it was still primarily depleting the battery in EV mode with some mechanical assist, not switching back and forth between CD and CS.

I had a similar discussion with another volt owner on a different forum who was upset that the onboard system tracked some miles he traveled without gas as CS mode. HE had already reached the SOC to trigger CS mode so the car was making different decisions about power needs and sources, its not so much the source of the power as the algorithm that changes between the modes.

I am mostly interested from actual testers because I wonder how the mileage for that extra consumption is calculated, particularly when CS miles are very low or even zero. (ie travel 8 miles in EV but burn .1 gallons of gas)

 

Gwmort, the production version will let you choose to either:

1) Blend gas and battery above 60mph. Since it will use both, battery maybe drained off the highway.
2) Turn on HV mode to retain the charge for later EV local miles

 

So long as your understand that 'CS' can mean ICE only does not have to be ICE only.

I have wondered about the split between IC and battery sourced energy in the Prius PHV too, and I do not know the answer. From my POV so long as the IC engine is being used in its most efficient power band I am satisfied. If 'HV' mode in the PHV is the same as the Prius then all I have to do is keep ICE rpm > 1500 and less than 3000. Easily accomplished with a scangauge even if the car does not come with an rpm meter.

 

Are all 387 miles by you? What was the overall MPG at the end of your "turn" before giving it back?

 

tpfun, can you answer my question?

 

OMGZWTFLOLZRUFKM?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

You took a picture of the BATTERIES in the PHV?! Tpfun witll CREAM HIS PANTS! since no one ever took a picture (of the plain steel box) ever before in the history of the internets!

 

If you could post your total miles traveled, total EV miles, and total gallons consumed during your family's test I would much appreciate it.

 

love the comparison pix of the Leaf verses Prius under hood shot. makes a HUGE statement on the viability of electric.

but cant go with the "comfort" statement of having gas to fall back on. The Leaf makes a great option in a two car family. if you only need one car, then the plug in makes sense. during my 13 weeks of Leafness, there has only been 3 times when the Prius was driven in non commute mode and all those times were because the Leaf had already left the building. those 3 times could have been done by the Leaf, but all were too far to be covered by a PHEV.

i deal with customer education on a daily basis. (some call it tier 1 tech support) making the Leaf work for anyone as a 2nd car (or first choice car) simply is a question of understanding what the Leaf can do and the resources one has available to make it work.

i do have access to a multitude of charging options away from home and other than my 122.8 mile adventure, have never used any to provide any significant range boost and it still has not really hampered me in anyway.

last week, i drove over 300 miles but only plugged in on 5 of those 7 days. i find the Leaf is really a very minimal compromise and i have to pay for my electricity

P.S. the above in no way infers that i am not still interested in a PLEV to replace my current Prius. but with 20,000 miles on it, i think i will hang onto it just a bit longer

 

Understood. Multiple drivers complicate things and it won't reflect as a typical use.

 

I don't know, between a lead-foot and a hyper-miler it might give a good average.

Are these models the production versions or as these the ones that still have a NiMh battery in addition to the lithium ion packs?