PHV: Is "all-electric" the only mode?

Ok, you guys have written some good posts in this thread, Gwmort mentioned one battery, I wonder would it be easier for the system to recharge itself if it is just one pack?

So, If the PHV Prius were to have just one battery pack charged up for the first 13 miles. For example after the 13 miles or so, battery is depleted, but enough left for HV operation, then continue driving at at highway speed;
Would the system be able to recharge the entire battery pack on a long trip?

 

Nice thread.... worth it to keep an eye on....

 

One of the guys that got to play with a PHV might be able to tell you but I would suspect not. Limiting charge discharge cycles is important to preserve the life of lithium batteries, thats why the HV operation is referred to as charge sustain mode instead of replenish mode or something.

If it kept charging and discharging as you drove down the road the battery life would drastically shorten.

 

The prototype's Lithium battery was divided into 3 packs. Only one of the pack will be fully recharged if you regen downhill long enough.

There is no official word that the production version will have a single pack. After seeing where Toyota installed the Lithium battery in the Prius+ in Europe, they could install one or two of the subpack in Prius PHV's center console (between driver and passenger seats). That will leave room for the spare tire.

I am excited to see what the final production version will be like.

 

The number of packs do not make charging harder or easier, but you need more hardware to charge 3 packs than one. The one battery is just a rumor and not confirmed, but IMHO 1 or 2 packs are a better design than 3. We will have to wait and see what Toyota actually ships.

The system would be able to recharge the entire battery pack while driving, but doing so does not make much sense from an efficiency point of view. A more powerfull battery does let toyota efficiently keep the SOC in a more optimum range and recharge the battery with regen after it would otherwise be full.

 

Breaking News!

2012 Toyota Prius PHV to get selectable EV mode, full battery regeneration

2012 Toyota Prius PHEV to feature selectable EV mode, full regen — Autoblog

 

I can't wait to find out what the other improvements are! After all these years of collecting data, I sure hope they have a lot of useful improvements.

 

Isn't it amazing how certain competitor enthusiasts absolutely insisted this wasn't going to happen? How could they think all that real-world data and driver feedback wouldn't contribute to improvements?
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I think the news reinforces the notion of a single battery.

I'm glad they're not going to waste any regen energy, but honestly I never knew the test mules did would have assumed this is how the PHV would work.

The real issue isn't energy into the battery but back out. I doubt many people will have huge regen opportunities to regen to full EV range without using some of it for propulsion as they go. I would like to know if the algorithm is going to prioritize ICE power to let the battery charge back up or electrical power making it harder to fill the battery but using much less gas. I suspect the former, is so you probably won't see range in EV miles increasing so much as fuel consumption decreasing.

I can't wait to see the numbers on this thing, its going to be awesome!

 

Those weren't test mules, they weren't first-generation builds... fully functional vehicles in the hand of consumers, not employees. So as some us pointed out, the rollout model will actually be second-generation... taking feedback contributed by those consumers combined with engineer research to improve upon the previous.
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John, you live near a highway right? So this would be great for you!

 

To add to your point, there is an Owner's Manual for it.

 

Yup, just a few short blocks. That means I'll be able to bump the previous PHV commute from 166 MPG there (80 MPG round trip) to what?

It will be especially nice in the winter, when I leave from work and don't want to sacrifice EV for heat. The beauty of being a hybrid...
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Tomaeto tomahto, I don't really care what you call them, it was clear there were going to be changes to the production model. I've actually been looking forward to seeing what they come up with I am sure it is going to be great.

Just because I love my Volt doesn't mean I don't appreciate great advances in electrification.

 

Would it be time to change the 2006 for something more "electric" ?....

 

The way I am perceiving this EV button is that it will take the SOC when one leaves EV mode and treat that as a target to maintain. Otherwise, it might still have propensity to use the available SOC like the non-plug models love to eat green bars.

Here's hoping it is something like that. Thoughts?

 

Very tempting. My Prius is approaching 150k miles and still going strong. The problem is, I am not tired of it yet!

 

With the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf going on sale in all 50 states, Toyota can still compete by offering this car in all non-launched states thru the ordering system, although they will not be in showrooms. We don't know the price but I think it is a winner, it should return better mileage than the non plug-in in HV mode after EV depletion.

It would be nice if Toyota were to also make sure its dealers do not pull Chevy Volt-type dealings among themselves or sell new cars to KIA dealerships with 5 miles on the odometer as used vehicles, sell the car to consumers or put it on ebay with low mileage after they get the tax credits. Offering the car everywhere would prevent a lot of that!
That would be bad publicity right there, big turn off for me and I don't want anything that bad!

Potential Chevy Volt buyer turned off by $4,300 "market availability adjustment" — Autoblog Green