I've just left my car in ECO mode. It suits my driving style fine. Is there any reason not to leave it this way 24/7?
I also leave mine in ECO. The air conditioner uses less power and the throttle response is less. I don't need jack rabbit acceleration with only a slight touch of the gas pedal in PWR mode. They say over all it's better MPG. I know with no buttons pushed it is "Normal". I just like ECO. My biggest reason is to save gas while using the AC.
You realize in the Prius you are not using "gas" when running the AC. It's all electric. It's not the same as running the AC compressor off a belt on the engine as in the old days.
Mmm, I do not know: the impetus for the AC eventually goes back to the engine; there's no free lunch. Still, I really wish you could have the ECO AC behaviour without the pedal travel increase. Considering we rarely use AC, it's moot for us.
Yes I do know that. Do you know the ECO mode changes how the AC pump works? It uses less electrical energy, thus uses less fuel when in AUTO. At the end of the day all energy comes from gasoline.
i've been in eco since i left the dealership on 04/26/12. so far, no damage. great mpg's seem to be the only fallout.
ECO mode reduces the maximum allowable power usage for the A/C so it will take longer to cool or heat but the power consumption of the A/C compressor in the summer is reduced. In the winter, ECO mode lowers the water temperature threshold of the engine and will allow the engine to shut off sooner. In one experiment at -10°C, ECO mode vs. Normal mode was the difference between engine off and engine idling for the entire traffic light cycle. Existentialist question?
I must have good muscles and tendons. No leg strain at all so far. We had a front through and it was 65 this morning. I had to run an errand so I turned the a/c off and opened the front windows about 3 inches. Cold start and about 4 miles there at 45mph max for 55 something mpg then return about 10 minutes later on a warm engine at 60.5mpg. Those are optimismeter readings of course so maybe 50/55 real world, in ECO mode with several sightings of the EV indicator thrown in. I'm satisfied with that.
If that were the case, the Prius would get the same MPG as a conventional gasoline-only car of the same weight and performance.
Yes, I know that. As Tideland said, it limits the amount of energy allowed for cooling, thus making the cooling system less efficient. It takes longer to cool the cabin. So you're running the AC longer at lower efficiency to achieve the same level of comfort in the cabin. I'd rather cool the cabin down faster initially and then raise my temperature to let both the compressor and fan work a little easier the remainder of my trip.
There is no free lunch. The ICE charges the TB. The combination of ICE and TB is more efficient then a conventional car. The ICE uses fuel to charge the battery. So again, at the end of the day, all energy comes from fuel.
Although an argument could be made that regen braking energy doesn't come from fuel. The counter argument would be it does because without the fuel there wouldn't be the speed/momentum to capture to regen I suppose. I've always kept my a/c set at 65 and just lowered the fan to adjust the temp. I'd never thought of any options or reasons for doing otherwise. The discussions make me think maybe I should be keeping the fan on a higher setting and raising the thermostat. Then again, higher fan means more power usage. Catch-22 I guess when the weather doesn't allow turning the a/c off.
How you do it is good. Toyota knows what they are doing and they programmed the system to save fuel. It just depends on your physical comfort level what you use. It does not burn too much extra fuel to do it your way. Enjoy. It costs energy (gasoline) to become cooler faster.
Yes, it costs fuel to get up to speed, then regen. braking captures back some of the energy used The lost energy is the heat produced. No energy is 100% recoverable.
Ours stays on auto and is generally set to 74. We'll turn it down to 70 or 72 to cool things down when the car sits out in the sun too long, like during the ball games we attended in Houston in July. The only time I mess with the fan speed is when I need to turn it down to issue a voice command. I'll also turn the temp down to 66-68 sometimes in the winter to keep the heater from coming on when the engine is cold. The funny thing is my wife likes the car cool, so I'm surprised she doesn't complain at all with it set to 74. Compared to our previous van, we're quite happy with the Prius climate control. My sister-in-law who has a Hyundai Sonata with a rear seat fan says our Prius without the fan is more comfortable. She makes me sit up front when we go somewhere in their car she and my wife can talk. I should mention that I used ECO mode on our trip last spring, but didn't think it let the A/C keep up with the extra humidity and heat once summer got here.
I love the fact there are so many options with the Prius. Even without trying most people are going to get 40 MPG. I've driven cross state to Tampa and got 53 MPG. I know some do better than that.
