EV Questions

If the battery's state of charge is above a certain level and it's not cold outside (or the car is still somewhat warm) you can use the EV button to shuffle cars around in a driveway or crawl around a parking lot from a stop. Otherwise, the ICE seems to start after ~10 seconds automatically, and if you shut it off too quickly and it's cold outside, you get nasty engine knocking when you turn it back on.

Other than that, not much - any other use will drain your battery quickly, so unless you're about to go down a large hill it's not very useful. Once the car is warmed up, pushing the EV button will allow you to slowly push the pedal down well into the "eco" section of the eco meter without the ICE coming on, but that'll get you a little over a mile at most before the battery's charge gets too low. Using it that way is almost always a bad idea.

The button is similar to asking the engine to not start yet, but it doesn't have to listen to you.

 

close to useless. it's too bad you can't use it anytime for moving the car around, especially when it's cold.

 

Internal Combustion Engine - the one that uses gas, as opposed to the electric motor that uses the battery.

 

When I drove around a c, the only time I found the EV button useful was when I'm leaving the underground parking garage at work, and to slowly crawl from the gas station to my house after driving it home from work, which is about two and a half city blocks from where I live. Though I drive a liftback now, it's still the same issue with that car as well.

For the most part it's pretty useless as the car automatically goes into ev mode after the engine is warmed up whenever appropriate, such as at a stop light/sign, or going slow speeds such as in gridlock traffic.

EV mode button can be used only if the battery isn't too low, and/or you're not cold-starting it at a low temperature (such as starting it up in the morning before you go to work in late autumn/winter).

If the engine isn't warmed up, it also deactivates ev if you go more than 9 mph (25 mph if it's warmed up sufficiently). You also have about 7 seconds from starting the prius c to hit the EV button, assuming the other conditions I just mentioned aren't a factor, or it starts the gas engine too. Assuming you can put up with the low speed, you can get roughly a mile before the battery is drained and has to be recharged via the gas engine.

Basically, don't worry about ev mode. The prius c will know when to use it. Just focus on driving and not hitting anyone, while simultaneously watching out for people who may hit you due to not paying attention.

 

As opposed to External Fusion Engine? Sorry, but I despise pretentious acronyms, need my meds...

Yeah, I think the main purpose for EV button is for when you want to shuffle the car a few feet without firing up the IC..., err: engine. And depending on the hybrid battery state-of-charge, ambient temps, coolant temp, phase of moon, it may or may not be available.

Main reason for EV Mode, in my opinion: the Prius transaxle cannot be slipped into Neutral, with the car off. There's no way to move the car even a foot or two (via Fred Flintstone Mode). You've gotta start it up. Or use EV mode, if available.

 

What ?? Pay attention to driving safely ?? What a novel concept !!!

I have found the EV button to be useless.

Some others have said that it is useful when stuck in a bad traffic jam, to keep the engine from starting until it absolutely needs to......while you are crawling along at 10 MPH or less.

 

the only reason we have an ev button is because europe got it on the genII and we whined and kvetched and bought aftermarket units and came up with our own, until toyota caved and put it in the genIII. then we found out how useless it is.

 

Speak for yourself. A few us had circumstances when it was very handy and it could routinely be taken advantage of.

For me, with the 2010, it was the final 2 blocks of my commute. The extra power from EV allowed entry into the neighborhood without requiring the engine to start.

 

there you go, o/p, now you know why we have it!

 

There is an aspect of education & confirmation from the EV button. Many have attempted to greenwash by claiming Toyota didn't ever take adding a plug into consideration. That mode demonstrates there actually is more power potential available from the electric-motor already in the vehicle. It comes down to having a larger battery to deliver the higher kW required.

It's understandable how that long-term view of the design can be easily overlooked. But then again, the regular model of Prius has already taken a next step. Maximum draw from the larger battery was increased in with the plug-in from 27 to 38 kW. That resulting power increase is easy to recognize behind the wheel. On paper, it gets even better. The electric-motor still offers greater potential. It is rated for 60 kW.

Someday, battery cost and physical size could shrink enough to make that EV power increase a realistic option for the smaller model Prius too.

 

So you burned off some of the battery charge and accomplished.........nothing useful.......because you have to replenish that charge the next time the car runs.

 

Nope.

The EV usage was to get from the stoplight to the next block, which was a short uphill climb. That was followed by a very long downhill in EV. So, when I finally reached my driveway, the battery was already recharged without ever having started the engine.

I realize that's a rare geographic circumstance; nonetheless, I was able to take advantage of it with the EV button.

 

You are just fooling yourself.
Eventually you will have to drive back UP that long downhill and expend the gas that you previously saved.
It is impossible to repeatedly go downhill without going back UP in between.

 

Nope.

Consider the reality that I already climbed up, that the trip down is returning me back to regular elevation.

That's why being a *HYBRID* is such a big deal. It offers the ability to exploit efficiency opportunities other propulsion systems would just miss out on.

 

You aren't getting it.

Given what you said last, the energy in the battery that you used on the last leg was slowly put into it during the previous climb UP the elevation change or during the cruising at the top........AND must be put back into the battery later.

There is no free lunch and there is no free energy.

I quit.

 

Looking at the situation from an absolute prevents seeing what actually happens.

The lunch isn't free, but it is DISCOUNTED.

The hybrid system makes better use of the engine & electricity available. That's what makes it more efficient. Having the button available allows you to even better use them, since you are more aware of driving conditions than the computer. You know how close you are to your destination and you can take advantage of having an already warmed engine.... as well as knowing when the ups & downs will occur.

DISCOUNTED, not FREE.

 

i have been wondering, how much efficiency is lost when the engine is running to charge the battery?

 

The PSD (power split device) connects the gas engine with the 2 electric motors, allowing each to interact yet still retain some independence. It works to keep the engine at an efficienct RPM for as long as realistic. That can result in more power being the engine than what is actually needed for propulsion. That "extra" (which would have been lost energy without having a PSD avilable) is used for replenishing the battery.

There's still a net loss, but that loss is reduced.

The system takes advantage of this both when driving and when warming up. After all, with thermal efficiency of combustion engines so low in the first place, being able to reduce the waste is worthwhile.