Is Too Much EV A Bad Thing?

I wouldn't worry about it. The car pretty much takes care of itself as it's designed to do.

 

Generally electric motors will last much longer than ICE engines (one moving part as opposed to hundreds).

But the true answer to you question is, it depends why you want to drive electric.
Is it for GHG emissions? If so, what GHG emissions result from gas vs electricity in your case?
Is it for costs? What does electricity cost in your area vs gas?
Is it to reduce the nations trade deficit? Electricity definitely.
Is it to reduce the pressure on our military to keep volatile oil producing parts of the world 'calm' by putting our soldiers in harms way? Electricity all the way.

 

First, the electric motors themselves should outlast the combustion engine by a significant amount. They are quite robust and have far fewer parts to break or wear out.

Second, it's the battery that ages the EV part. The best thing you can do for it is avoid high-temperature exposure, avoid continious high-power draw, and allow for a cold-soak (rest time) between recharges.

I recharge at work too. Mid-Afternoon is when I plug in. That allows several hours for that cold-soak and makes a nice excuse for a break outside.

 

I agree with everything that's been said so far.
Allow me to add: unless I misunderstand how the car works, the electric motor is pretty much running all the time.
The only question (I thinki) is to what degree the ICE needs to kick in to provide additional power.

 

Yes, because of the way the power split device works in the Prius you have one ICE and two motor generators. The shafts of the two MGs are pretty much always rotating. And when the ICE isn't firing the speed ratios of the two MGs cause the ICE to not be rotating (except when the ground speed exceeds ~42 mph) and the ECU chooses to make the ICE rotate. The excitation voltage, applied by the ECU to each MG determines whether the rotation makes it a motor or a generator...or just a spinning hunk of metal (neutral).

Mike

 

I have a standard Prius but PIP is on my radar. From a previous post, gasoline can get stale so you want to burn a little gasoline. You may be doing that to warm up the PIP or get heat in the cabin. I believe you should empty a gas tank every 6 months so a periodic long drive may do the trick. Just a precaution. Your owners Manuel will have the info or one of the PIP drivers can explain better.

I thought the EV can work up to 62 MPH.

 

Notice about fuel
For plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel may remain in the tank for a long time and

undergo changes in quality depending on the how the vehicle is used.

Refuel at least 5.3 gal.(20 L, 4.4 lmp.gal.) of fuel every 6 months (refuel a

total of at least 5.3 gal. [20 L, 4.4 Imp.gal.] over a 6-month period), as this

may affect components of the fuel system or the gasoline engine.

You are correct.

 

Thx. Very important to know.

 

Your welcome!

 

The engine turns on after so many miles to circulate the fuel.

 

You'll end using gas on other trips.
Electric motors last a high number of miles.

Just please don't think of the charging at work during the day as free. It's not. In fact it's much more costly than charging at night. So, please try to charge at work as little as possible. And when trying to figure out when to charge, just look at your area's time of use tariffs. Try to avoid peak, as all you'll do is help make electricty more expensive by adding to peak demand and increasing the required capacity. Off-peak is much cheaperbecause capacity is under-utilized. That difference in price indicates just how costly underutilization is.

 

You can always add Stabile gas treatment or Seaform to the tank. I been using Seaform in my gensets, mowers, snowblowers, and motorcycles. In storage for 4 - 6 months. When Time comes to power up, no gasoline separation issues.

DBCassidy

 

I just copyed what was in owners manual.

 

my commute is 7.5 miles each way. my current ev/hv ratio is 80/20, 400 miles ev and 100 hv. sure the batteries will degrade a bit faster. enjoy! we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

Charging in the summer in the afternoon is the "costly" option. This increases the summer peak and is how peak demand estimations are done. IMO, charging at work in the winter is not more costly.

Mike

 

we don't have any off peak rates here.

 

The ramp where I park & recharge has a large (82 kWh) solar-array.

That alters the circumstances of the summer afternoon cost.