EV On/Off Charge Depletion Miles and Control Not Making Much Sense

This conversation reminds me of the voicemail icon on my dad's cell phone. I showed him how to pick up his voicemail but he'd always forget how. I eventually told him to just ignore it.But even now, 10 years later, he'd come to me every once in awhile and ask me to delete that icon because it bugs him so much to see it on the screen.

I feel the same way about this post. It really doesn't matter what we say whether it right or wrong. OP's PiP said 13.1 EV miles when new and nothing will satisfy OP until it says 13.1 or higher. I'm not trying to trivialize OP's legitimate concern. I mean, I don't like the fact that I got seat heaters in my base PiP instead of LED headlights. I'd rather have LED headlights. That will always bug me that Toyota sold me seat heaters that I will never use in sunny California.

 

You will eventually use those seat heaters, trust me. I had to use mine this morning at 7am. It will get cold enough this winter to warrant their use. Milpitas ain't that sunny or warm in the winter...

My PiP said 13+ EV miles when new. It has steadily gone down and now sits around 10.3. Sometimes it moves up, sometimes down, but always seems to settle around 10.3. Was I upset at first that the estimate went down? Sure. But then I took a hard look at my commute and realized that I had a less than ideal route to take full advantage of the EV miles. I have a big hill to go up first thing in my commute, followed by a downhill that might get me most of my EV miles back, followed by a flat section, and then another large hill to go up. If I left the car in EV mode the whole time, I ended up with very few EV miles before I got on the freeway. I now put the car in HV mode, go up the first hill and then back down, and by the time I get to the flat section, the engine is warmed up and I go in EV mode on the flat section before hitting HV mode again for the second hill, go up that hill in HV mode, and then can run on EV mode until I hit the freeway. At that point I have more EV miles available to me. I save those miles for when I'm stuck in slow traffic, or for when I get to the end of my commute and I'm back on surface streets.

To the OP: Did your last car get the EPA estimated mileage, or was it lower? If it was lower, did you complain about that to the manufacturer? The mileage estimates that the EPA and the manufacturer provide are based on a standardized test. This is supposed to provide a level playing field, as it were, for comparing mileage estimates from one car to another, and one manufacturer to another. That standardized test is supposed to mimic a typical commute for most drivers. But as with lots of things based on a standard, not everybody falls into the standard. I think that's what's happening with you. This doesn't mean that Toyota lied to you. It just means that your driving patterns and habits aren't as optimal for EV-only driving and the computer is trying to give you a more realistic estimate, based on your past driving history.

 

I thought OP was happy now? Or at least accepting. She is getting about 11 which is what EPA said to expect.

Those 2 extra miles are only saving you about 9 cents on gas. We're talking about $3 a month. This car is so efficient that you don't have to stress about all these little details if it isn't worth a few pennies at a time to you.

 

Mine said 13.9 when I left the dealer. I bought mine for continued single occupant carpool usage. My estimate shows 9.8 now. For the longest time it stayed in the 10's. But even at 9.8 EV estimate, if I try, I can still go 12 to 13 miles. And my PiP is lowered with $1100.00 coilovers, and 18" light weight wheels with low profile tires. The 9.8 probably correlates to my needing to stay about 75 to 80mph on the 405 freeway just to not piss people off behind me for going too slow.
Anyway, 11 is correct. I've never heard Toyota say 15. I think only when they were testing and figuring out what size Li-ion trackng battery will go into the vehicles in production. Other than that I've only heard and read the estimate to be 11.

 

is that your son? starting him out right!

 

all you have to do is divide your electric bill by kwh used to get your cents/kwh cost. then multiply that by 3.3 for the average recharge from empty. mine cost about .50, so 10 miles/charge would be .05/mile etc.

 

I think the figure of 15 EV only miles was published prior to official testing, etc., and quite a while before the cars became available. As an update to my prior post in this thread, #25, on Sunday morning my EVR hit a first-ever 14.8, and I got an actual 17.0 miles on EV that day, at speeds up to 55 mph, with another 40+ miles of HV added on. Monday the estimate was again 14.8, but I only used about 3.5 EV miles, and this morning the estimate was 14.7 miles. My point again is, it WILL vary. Even in HV mode, which the OP will use on her road trip, she ought to improve on the mpg's of her 2010 Prius. She indicated she got low forties in that one, but didn't say if she ever drove that one on a similar road trip.

 

I never studied pulse and glide, but I do turn off all the lights and screens and keep my throttle as low as possible. My EV range estimate is slowly increasing. I am beginning to get about 14 miles EV but the estimate started in the 10's and has slowly climbed to the new high of 12.4 today.

 

Simple. Drive at 5 mph in circles in a parking lot until you go insane and run down the battery. That should give you an insanely long EV range.
PS. To the earlier poster saying to keep the HSI bar at 20% or lower…man, I'm just glad we don't drive on the same roads

 

susan, you can't 'increase' you're ev range, period. just drive the car and try to find a way to enjoy it. or trade it in on something you will enjoy. apologies for the tough love, but you are trying to make the car something it is not.

 

It's been said the high speeds kill the EV miles.
So this morning I took some side streets and kept it under 35mph- What I observed was the EV miles ticking off slower than the odometer miles. As soon as I had to get back on the main roads at 62-66mph I saw the EV miles ticking off faster than the odometer miles.

So- slow and steady wins again

 

why is it 'fishy'? if we both drive the same gas car, and i get 25mpg and you get 30mpg, does that mean i'm doing something wrong? what if my route is hillier than yours? or if i have to drive higher speeds? or i have a lead foot? or the weather in my area is worse? sure i can make some improvements, but i can't control everything. some things are outside of our control. same with ev miles.

 

I got my 14.8 with what for me, is "normal driving." It just isn't going to be the same for everybody. I use A/C and lights, etc., when I need to do so, but I rarely accelerate hard. I shut off the A/C a few blocks from home, but that is to allow the moisture in the system to dry out to avoid a mildew smell in the car. My iPod is on constantly, but I don't think that uses a lot of juice.

 

The OP needs a new car.....she is far too OCD to drive this car slow enough to improve EV range, which in the end means nothing at all...the OCD is you are obsessing over the ESTIMATE.

put your front end up on jackstands, and let car idle away for entire EV range, do that for 5 battery cycles and you will probably see 20EV range.

But you will still only go 10 miles after all that.....BECAUSE YOU DRIVE TO FAST. like i said before, google a route that is 30mph roads....keep HSI at 20% and you will go 15miles for sure. But you will need to do that many many times to get your ESTIMATE to go up that hi. common sense.

Dan

 

Thought I would reboot again, EV ESTIMATE improved quite a bit from 10-11 lately to 13.6. On three Separate charges this morning. I think I will install a battery disconnect so I can reboot easier.