Low Mileage on PiP basic 2012

if you know what time you are departing, you should try to time the charge to finish about 15 minutes before departure for best results. this will have the battery still warmed from the charging.

 

if you are on a TOU rate plan with the utility, see what times are "offpeak". you can do most of the charging during "offpeak" and then do something like the last 15 minutes of charging just before departure to warm up the battery a little. I don't know how to stop/start charging on a PiP so someone else here might be able to help. with this colder weather I try to do a remote start while plugged in about 10 minutes before departure and that seems to work well for my car.

 

it's not going to make a big enough difference to make it worth spending more for electricity.

 

It is getting about 100 MPGe (337.5 Wh/mi) on electric miles and 46 MPG on gas miles.

That's not bad but sure could improve. The biggest concern why all the EV miles were not utilized. That's why your EV ratio is low.

Does she switch to HV mode? Perhaps she flocks on the accelerator often that ICE doesn't get much chance to shutdown?

On that trip 4 miles were on EV and 4.2 miles remaining so, she would have gotten 8.2 miles.

 

It looks like most PiP drivers are running in the 4-6 cents per mile range. if starting with a warm battery gets you another mile of EV , would it be worth more than 10-15 minutes (.3 kWh) of regular rate electricity vs offpeak rate ?

 

OP is in NJ. If he doesn't know about off-peak hours, he's probably not on the TOU plan.
PriusPlug, thanks for the pictures, they are very informative. Namely, why is she not using the full EV range? Make sure she's not pressing the HV button and consequently artificially deflating fuel economy.
Never listen to car salesmen.
Also, what John is suggesting is physically impossible. Regardless of which timer you use, the car will always charge to full. The only way to prevent this is to plug in the EVSE into a timer outlet and have that shut off before the charge is complete. Please consult the FAQ, which covers this.
Also, from anecdotal evidence on the forum here, it doesn't appear that having the charge complete just before departure makes much of a difference. YMMV, of course.

 

That's a head scratcher. I'd be challenged to figure out how to not use up the EV miles. As long as you leave it in "EV Mode" (as illustrated), you'll get a boost from the electricity even when the engine runs.



You may be able to fight the system, forcing the engine to frequently run with heavy heater use and acceleration.

 

That's a shame. What some people do is define two offpeak periods with one starting just before their regular departure time and then select departure based charging and restricte to offpeak periods, or just schedule a remote start to precondition the vehicle 10 minutes before their regular departure time.

 

For your wife's schedule, start: at 0500 and stop: at 0800. The car accepts one or the other, but not both commands. Salesman will tell you anything and act like authorities. Typical driving transitions for most of us is: Charge to full, drive EV to start, when engine comes on, just go along with it and warm up the interior, the engine will shut off after 3-4 minutes. Then switch back to EV and use as much EV as possible. I deliberately leave .5 to 1 mile, that way when you return to HV those numbers can be a bit increased by charging (regeneration). Maybe while your wife is at the mall, there may be a charger there. Then she may have enough to drive home in EV

 

First...I'd pay no attention to what the salesman says. Second, I'd be surprised if you have TOU billing and don't know it. Third, it would be odd for the TOU rate to not be the same until 8am.

Mike

 

I guess on the advanced model you MIGHT be able to do something like this since it supports remote charging. Of course if you're in an underground garage with no service, this might be difficult.

 

if the rates are the same, i would finish charging just before leaving. that's what i try to do, although, the times it has sat cold for 4-8 hours, i haven't noticed a range difference. it might be better for the battery tho.

 

Not driving in EV mode is the only way I can think of to not use up EV range. Are you sure she isn't pressing the EV mode button when she drives off?

I had a friend who would always press the O/D button to switch off overdrive in her Lexus when she starts up. I asked her why she enjoys low gas mileage and she said that's what the salesman told her to do to avoid overheating the engine. I tried to convince her otherwise but she said she'd rather trust the dealer.

 

PiP always start in EV mode by default (with EV miles, charged). You don't need to hit the EV/HV button. If you do, you'll be in HV mode.

The biggest challenge with communication is the illusion that it has taken place -- George Bernard Shaw.

 

Great to see those new results. Just curious, what temp was the heater set to?

 

i'm really tempted to add this to the FAQ. Something like "Q: I charge every night and yet am still seeing only 50 mpg. What's wrong? A: Using the heater will turn on the ICE, even if you have a full charge. Stop using the heater and use the seat heaters on HI instead."