Best mode for long distance driving?

Wow, it's about time for the periodic renewal

 

yep, have to go into boston tuesday, i'm somewhere below the blinking pip, probably 9 gallons. it worked out pretty well, but i'm only at 3,100 miles, my record is 3,600. i'm hoping to break it someday, but it takes me a long time.

 

That's pretty amazing. I have too many trips beyond battery range on my PiP. But, I just checked this afternoon and I'm at about 47% EV after about 650 miles so far this tank. Another drive well beyond the battery coming up tomorrow. I can charge at home and work, so there's about 18-19 miles since we're in A/C always season now, but my total drive will be around 50 miles tomorrow. Still, way better than what I'd get with a non-plugin.

 

did you have a/c in the honduras?

 

Oh yeah!! We were on the island of Roatán. It didn't get super hot there, but I still needed it about 9 months out of the year. I would not have made it w/o a/c in the truck and house.

We had a 4-door 4WD diesel Nissan Frontier. A friend in the States asked me one time what kind of mileage we got. I told him I was afraid to check because I rarely got beyond second gear. That was a cool truck. Only one on the island with a crane and a toolbox.

 

Filling only 5 gallons will make you visit once in 3 months and make your car about 22 lbs lighter (on average) Just saying...

 

i've never considered it, but with no distance driving in the foreseeable future, it might be a good idea. and i won't have to worry about the stale gas concern.

 

Actually Ed, that EV light comes on when you are in HV mode and using the HV portion of the battery.

 

@Ed From Syracuse
There is no HV mode indicator in the Prime.
By the photo, it is clear you are in HV mode (no EV miles estimate and battery icon in the HV portion of the battery).
Using electric motor only at times in HV mode (downhill sections and/or low power demand when battery not too low, is typical to all Prius family of cars (hybrids and plug-ins). The small car icon with "EV" on it is the indication that the ICE (engine) is off.

 

Average speed? Thanks.

 

When folks refer to the "HV portion of the battery", I think that it needs to be clarified that there are no separate "HV" and "EV" physical parts of the battery. It's all one big battery, and depending on a multitude of factors, such as the state of charge, or the EV/HV mode selection by the user, the control software uses it in HV mode or EV mode. In HV mode, either the ICE or the battery may be used for traction, and the ICE is also used to maintain the charge in the battery within a desired range. In EV mode, charge in the battery is depleted to move the car. The user can select HV mode at any time, and the state of charge will then be maintained in a small range around whatever the charge was when the HV button was pushed. If the state of charge gets too low while in EV mode, then you are forced into HV mode.

 

Thanks for the explanation.
I would add another scenario:
The system may start the ICE while being in EV mode (i.e. without switching to HV mode) in order to protect itself from potential damage.
This can be when exceeding 84 mph, regeneration when battery is full (or almost full), battery temp. is too high etc.
The EV mode indicator stays on in these cases to indicate the driver that the system will automatically revert back to electric motor(s) drive once the potential damage situation is over.

 

This has been discussed elsewhere on this forum, but one important "etc." case is if it needs to defog the windshield via the old air-condition the air to dry it, then heat it back up. It has to fire up the engine to to do the latter:


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