Driving tips for new prius c?

This is more for future readers of this post, but I'll try to answer your question as I understand the regen brakes.

TLDR version: The less you have to hard brake (full depressing the brakes), the longer the friction brakes will last. The longer you can coast for, the more you'll gainfully regen as opposed to hard braking a short distance to a stop sign or red light.

The friction brakes don't kick in until you press the brakes really hard so that the blue bar is maxed out, or if you're going less than 6-7 mph, like say near a stop sign or red light.

I read (I think on this site) that having a nearly full blue bar actually counterproductive, as the c can't make full use of that regen power. So it's better to do light braking for a longer distance than a hard brake really close to a stop sign or light. Obviously you won't be able to do this all the time, especially with cars following you or if the weather is bad and safety should take priority.

But should you ever find yourself in that situation where there's no other cars behind you, or you're the last car, exploit this like crazy and coast slowly. A quarter to half full blue bar for a longer distance is better than hard braking it at 3/4 to nearly full blue bar a short distance. As a bonus, at a traffic light, if you go slow enough, the light may turn green by the time you get there, so you won't have to stop at all, which will be better for your mpg than starting from a complete stop repeatedly.

Again, this can't be stressed enough, only do this if the weather is good, and there's no cars immediately behind you.

Saving a bit of gas isn't worth it if you glide right into the intersection because of icy or rainy conditions, or you crash into the car in front of you because you misjudged the speed your car could stop before hitting them (esp in bad weather), or you force drivers behind you to hard brake because you're approaching the light/sign so slow, and thus add to the stereotype that all prius drivers are slow and/or terrible at driving.

 

so knowing what "should" be done during a break in period, i'm curious what the consequences would be of not observing any of the guidelines.

some of the recommendations concern the initial 300km of driving, and when i got my C it came with ~350km on it, which has always kinda irked me just from a "first new car" standpoint. now i wonder if it has affected the vehicles performance.

i drive mostly in the city and generally try to follow the guidelines for good fuel economy (gentle accelerations/stops, coasting when possible, minimize use of AC, etc). after 2 years, i'm averaging 45mpg, which is obviously better than any non hybrid, but seems at the bottom end of what most owners on here are able to get. like in ideal summer conditions i barely get 50mpg, and generally always get worse than that.

 

How fast do you normally drive? Anything over 70 mph drops the average below 50 mpg. On a 500 mi trip, I was doing 70+, WOT out of toll booths, and my average was decent, around 47 mpg. Which is pretty much it's rated for. Next trip, I'm gonna do under 70 and limit my WOT to see what the difference is.

Are your trips under 10 miles? Usually takes about 10 miles of driving to hit 50+, otherwise short drives are in the low 40s. Also, how much EV do you use? I try to brake hard a few times before I go into it to charge up the battery and I'm usually 1 bar from full by the time I hit the EV, so my trip average goes from 52 mpg to 62 mpg.

 

Braking hard to charge the battery is not a good way to improve mileage for the following reasons:

1. When you brake hard, you are engaging the friction brakes which don't recharge the battery. (Yes, you will recharge up to the point the friction brakes kick in, but the energy lost from the friction brakes themselves is a 100 percent loss.)
2. Braking in general only does a fraction of your battery charging.
3. When you brake, it helps reclaim some of the energy you would normally lose with a normal car, so it does help mileage. However, you are far better off if you don't put yourself in a position to have to brake in the first place. Obviously, with normal driving, you will need to brake. However, the key to the best mileage is to minimize that need to brake.

Remember that most of your battery charging comes from normal driving, not braking. When you have to brake your Prius, any energy you gain (with its regenerative braking) is a plus and therefore a gain over a normal car. However, you only reclaim maybe half of the energy it took to get you up to speed to begin with. It's not an efficient way to boost your battery.

 

What MPGs were you getting in your last car and what kind of car was it?

 

I thought the same thing too and followed that since I bought it but always noticed my battery was only at a bar over half charged. So I tried braking more, like a non-hybrid, and saw the battery fill up to a bar below full. So I've been doing that since.

 

Ah, but you're assuming a big charge on your battery is a good thing. If your Prius could talk, she might say something like this, depending on how full your battery is:

5 bars: Everything is looking good, Boss. Plenty of charge for any EV mode opportunities, and I've done a good job using captured excess energy.

6 bars: We're a little heavy on the charge, Boss. However, we're still in great shape.

7 bars: Sorry, Boss. I haven't done a good job utilizing the recovered energy we've been accumulating. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to use it soon...real soon!

8 bars: Situation is critical, Boss! Any recovered excess energy is being lost; I've got no place else to put it. This is a shameful waste of energy that could be used to give you better mileage down the road. I'm really sorry, Boss! I know how much you enjoy getting great mileage.

And, if she has fewer bars, she'd tell you: "Don't worry, Boss. We've had some great chance to use EV mode. I'll monitor the situation; there's nothing you need to do. And, Boss, all that extra braking really doesn't help!

 

I drive my C pretty much like I drive my old Prizm. Maybe I could get better MPGs if I tried but I'm happy with what I get now.

YMMV

 

granted your probally right. though i usually like to keep the battery at least half or more full before i get too far in my trip since when i leave or go its rush hour and there nothing i hate more than sitting dead in traffic with a low (2 bar) tracction battery and the engine kick in then have to stay on because the battery "died". i have been in this situation a couple of times. wish there was a way to tell it instead of maybe alwyas trying for ev. use the ICE to charge the battery so at least when im stopped in bad stop and go. im not wasting gas to charge the battery when i am STOPPED.

question at low speeds like under 20mph is it better to have the windows open for cooling [if thats all you need to stay cool] or still keep the ac on and closed windows. which wastes more gas/battery

 

side note: i found on the 2014 prissy (prius c) that if you hit the ev button (sometiem have to hit it 3 times) right as you get done turning the key. it won't kick in the ICE for the warmup prechecks. untill you go over 10mph {you get more spped (upto 20mph ev) after it does the prechecks} or the battery is low.

i do this many times when i know i rather have the ice on when im going to need it anyways later like when i pull on to the highway. rather than waste it in aparking lot or stopped at the first light. i just havent figured out if it really makes that much of a difference. but i know it work,s great if your going to start but not actually be moving right away like stop and go parking lot manuevers as in end of a ballgame everyone trying to leave

 

Keep in mind this only works if the temperature is above I think about 68 degrees or so. If it's below that, the car won't let you turn EV mode on, at least from a cold start, I think it will let you if the engine's been warmed up already, aka you drove it around for a while (it's been a while since I drove it in cold weather), and will turn on the ICE like normal.

I have the c 4, so it's a push button start, but otherwise what you said is true. It's nice for getting out of a parking lot without wasting gas. Just don't hit anyone on your way out as you stealthily sneak out of there as the hum in low speed ev mode isn't terribly loud, so someone may not hear it vs a regular ICE car running.

 

don't need to worry mine comes standard with the spaceship sounds for the low vehicle speeds. i have mistaken it for the elctric motor whine but then realized the motors arent that loud. not like the ev1 which i think you could hear. though they had much more power and torque than the motors on a prius.