I can't find a subforum better suited for this question as it relates to Prius owners of all generations. If there is one, moderator: please move it. PULSE AND GLIDE The topic is not technique. The topic is frequency of use. Guesstimate the % of time you pulse and glide once up to desired speed: in city? on highway? Also, what kind of milage are you able to get? (thanks @Starship_Enterprius for the suggestion to add this metric!) Me: CITY: 15% (Increasing as I improve!) HWY: 5% (Lack of hwy miles since learning the technique.) MPG: 39.7 @ 99% city miles (pretty low, but HV probably needs service soon)
Hmm, I do not know. Maybe Newbies?!? I think there are slightly more users there than the photos forum. Or even just the general forum may gather more responses.
Meh, close to 5% in town (using hills), 0% on highway. There's too much in-town traffic and since it gets me only a few extra mpg, it doesn't save me much and it's not worth risking safety or trying so hard to push high mpg, especially in the winter. I'd rather just use the car and whatever my mpg is, that's it.
I'm still learning Tapatalk. I did not see a general Prius forum that wasn't generation specific. I thought the Newbies subforum would be begging for Pulse/Glide questions (completely ignoring the OP) instead of just raw stats. Can a moderator move this topic? Does PC even have specifically billeted moderators? Simply reposting in another forum seems like bad practice for contributing towards good organization.
Well I moved it to the Newbies. You'd rather have it elsewhere? Again, I doubt the photos sections gets a lot of hits so it's up to you. You have 3 replies since I moved it. I am a moderator.
My Prius -- City: 10-30% depending on traffic density. Heavy stop-and-go traffic increases my rate, when P&G can be coordinated with the traffic movements. Highway: 0%. It just isn't worthwhile above the threshold speed where the ICE must spin, which is below highway speed on my Gen3. If I shifted to a Gen4, that answer would change. My stick-shift Subaru: Highway: 0-25%, depending on terrain. It is coordinated with terrain, essentially none on flat ground, plenty on rolling hills.
Newbies will be fine, thanks. I wasn't being snarky asking about moderators, I'm still getting to know the forum. I love it here, and have been immersing myself!
I don't do it much. For my work commute I generally try to keep up with the traffic. One thing I do though is try to keep the hybrid bar low in the hybrid Eco section (first section on the EV bar) if I am on battery alone. If I have to accelerate under battery I usually just hit the pedal a little harder to start the ICE for a few seconds then back off and go battery power again. So I guess that's kind of like P & G. I usually do that on slower roads, like others have said not much benefit at highway speed to me.
Holy cow, you're the only other person I've read on PC that actually mentions "Hybrid Eco" area! (sorry, that's my geek moment)
Its a technique used to drive a hybrid. Basically, from a dead stop, one accelerates hard to get slightly over the speed limit, then watches the bars on the screen to keep the ICE from turning on again. The goal is to use the ICE to get to the speed limit fast, then using the electric motor to drive. I've tried it, and it takes the fun away from just good ol'fashioned driving for me.
So, I think I understand: get to speed, then let go of accelerator, thus starting regeneration, then press slightly on accelerator to use only electric power? I do that all the time. I would say 95% of city driving. On the highway, I cannot get it to work. I guess my foot is not delicate enough.
The simplest way I can put it is that the way car engines (at least gas burning internal combustion engines) tend to work, they are more efficient running harder for short periods (pulse) then at minimum speed (gliding) for longer periods then they are when you run them at a constant medium speed the whole time. This is magnified in a hybrid because instead of idling during the glide the engine can be completely off. So the result is as stated above, short bursts of acceleration followed by long stretches of EV. The bigger the speed difference you can manage (say accelerating to speed limit + 5, then letting it fall to speed limit -10) the less gas you use. The trade off is you become erratic in traffic when doing it with a big speed difference instead of steady and predictable, which is generally considered safer.
Yep, highway won't work. I get my worse mpg on the highway and better gas mpg in city stop and go driving.
Since the engine can't shut off over 42-46 mph (46 if accelerating, 42 if slowing down), you lose some of the benefit. It also takes more energy to accelerate to higher speeds and you lose some benefit there too.
The Prius generally protects its ICE from stress. The redline is supposed to be 5200 rpm but I've never seen mine get over 4200 even at full throttle. It doesn't hurt it to pulse and glide. Edit: It should be noted that above a certain RPM the engine is out of its highest efficiency band and you lose the advantage from the pulse. Our member bwilson4web has made full graphs and charts about this. In general, I would keep it under 3200 rpm, which is roughly the far end of the HSI bar (the max of the PWR zone). For max efficiency some don't go into the PWR zone at all, but it's too slow for me if I don't go into it.
It's a technique that uses the best of each of the system (engine and electric motors/battery) and a technique that utilises the advantages of the Toyota Hybrid System. The idea is that you "pulse" or accelerate briskly up to speed (or slightly over) by revving the engine in its sweet spot to produce power with the least amount of fuel (somewhere between 2,000rpm-3,000rpm typically). Then you lift off the accelerator, let the engine shut down, then lightly press on the accelerator again to glide down to 10 or 20mph below the speed you achieved (depending on traffic conditions) and then repeat the process. Now, why lightly press? Well if you lift off completely, you're coasting. The electric motors are programmed to undergo light regeneration to mimic the drag on an automatic transmission. If you press too hard, then you're using battery power to motivate the car. Now in some situations, that's not a bad thing (e.g. heavy traffic where you want to keep the speed up or if you're on a very slight incline and you don't want to slow down too much). Gliding with your right foot is the equivalent of shifting into neutral. Neither the engine or the battery is powering the front wheels. Here's a video made by a PCer.
