I have a 2017 3 (10k miles) and also a 2015 2 (40K miles). We live in an extremely large gated retirement community. To drive from our main gate to my home is 4 miles. The speed limits from the main gate to our house are 35 and 30mph with 3 stop signs on the way to my home. When I get to the main gate both cars batteries are completely charged entering the property as we have to run on a 4 lane highway for a few miles to get there. Both cars stay in eco mode. What I have never understood is the 2015 will run all the way from the gate to my home at the speed limits in EV and still have 3 bars of charge left. The 2017 will only run about 3 miles at the speed limits before the battery is completely discharged and the ice kicks in. Never has made sense to me that the gen IV would not at least equal the distance in ev as the gen III or even exceed it. The gen IV lithium batteries are rated to contain more charge than the gen III batteries. My practical experience seems to indicate something different based on the distance both cars will run in ev...unless there is some kind of an unknown issue with my gen IV.
it is probably just software designed to increase mpg. you have lithium in the gen 4, but i think the main reason is that driving in ev reduces mpg, so toyota has limited it more. although it could just be that they are being more conservative with the lower discharge limit, because of their lack of long term experience with li-on vs nimh, or li-on chemistry prefers not to be drawn down as low. otoh, it could be that the high end cutoff of li-on may be lower than nimh, so your starting with less kWh. keeping mind, although your icon shows full, the battery is never full.
Neither my gen 3 nor gen 4 would ever go more than about a mile on battery only. I must not have the right conditions to get the battery fully charged. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
i could never get either of my gen 2's to go more than a mile on flat ground at 10 mph in ideal conditions. 4 miles is amazing.
I’m not talking about the ev button “electric” mode...it’s in the ev mode that the car switches to based on throttle position, speed, etc while driving. The battery is as full as the software will allow. Aware it never allows the car to charge to the actual battery pack capacity when it shows “full” on the bar display. I’m talking “full” battery on the bar display.
I wouldn't worry about it - EV use seems to have little to do with the MPG or l/100km you get. What sort of MPG do you get from each car?
Is the trip into your community mostly downhill? I've never heard of anyone getting near 4 miles electric range with a non-plug in Prius. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
17 is lifetime 62.8 mpg and 15 is 51.5 mpg for the last couple of thousand miles. About where they should be based on how they are driven...but just kinda weird the way it works getting to my home from our main gate.
NiMH and Li-ION have different characteristics, which might give an advantage on that drive. If you did have a full charge at the end - how far would each go on the return journey (hint, put heater on full might force it to stay out of EV mode when you drive in]. Gen 3 and Gen 4 have vastly different drive-trains, smaller, more efficient motors on Gen 4, different transaxle layout. Might make a difference?
sometimes "flat" is deceptive. I had a commute which I thought was flat - until I rode it on a bicycle - and then discovered it was a couple of metres altitude difference - I barely pedalled one direction, it was reasonable effort the other (think I used GOOGLE Earth to check it but that was a few years ago).
I run and bike this road frequently and iwatch says only 2 ft elevation change for the entire 4 miles...when I said flat it’s flat.
it doesn't matter whether it s uphill, downhill or sideways. they are both doing the same route, and one goes further than the other. see post #2
He's saying that he gets further without the ICE kicking in, in the old car. Which, as you say, doesn't affect MPG - it just means ... nothing much. Jon - how far has each of the cars travelled to get to the start of the test-track? Both the same? It's also difficult to know how "full" it is - the Gen4 NiMH almost never goes to the last full mark (8th) - unless you've descended a long hill - I've only seen it 3 times in 2¼ yrs. I have a run home from an arterial road which is similar to yours, but only a kilometre. I need to use a little throttle to get home, but by the time I'm home, it's still showing the same 7 bars as when I started that trip. It's obviously not as full as 1km earlier - but unless you used a Scangauge or similar, you wouldn't know exactly how full it was.
I've never managed more than a mile continuously in EV on the Gen 3, Prius+ or the Gen 4, but the gen 4 will sometimes go back into EV for a while, on its own, straight after it has kicked out of forced EV. The difference between the two cars could be down to many variables, wind direction, ambient temperature, battery temperature, rolling resistance of the tyres, car laden weight (load) etc. It could even be the different battery chemistry, the charging up on the run before entering the gated community, or the 3 mile constant drain in EV, may have heated the battery up enough so that the car is limiting the EV use to protect it, lithium batteries are well known for getting hot.
Is there always a strong tail wind? Seriously, I guess the nature of your trip to your community gets your batteries unusually full. I never got more than about a mile of ice-free running with either my gen 3 or gen 4. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
EV mode is for waiting and parking lots. Who drives more than 3 miles in a parking lot? Any faster acceleration and the engine turns on. The new Prius is also much larger than the Gen 3. Just look at your tires. The 2015 Gen 3 has 185mm tires and the 2017 Gen 4 has 215mm tires. I would credit it to that since i have 235mm tires and the extra 20mm has me losing 5-6 mpg on my 2016 3 touring tech package. That is a 30mm difference. I think they lowered it to make way for the plug in versions. Just like 4 wheel drive. It was added last year to the Prius after 15 years. Or the solar charging top the Prius also had. This car will be the new rally car in the years to come. Just watch. For example, the new RAV4 plug in has 304bhp.
