2019 Prius drive modes question

Don't worry too much about which mode - they do very little except change the modulation of the accelerator. In tight traffic, I prefer ECO as the pedal is more sensitive, generally I leave it in NORMAL, but on the highway, PWR gives the RADAR Cruise (DRCC) a bit more accuracy.

Your 2019 will come with some bedtime reading - about 830 pages of it in the main Owner's Manual - plus several others.

You can download the manuals - which makes it handy to search on the computer for questions - I mean answers.

Enjoy.

 

Should use? At least with the Gen3, there is no 'should', it is just a matter of personal preference, a selection of which user interface 'touch and feel' you prefer. While ECO was intended to produce slightly better MPG for the largest block of typical drivers, feedback here on PriusChat found that to be not universal at all. Different drivers found different results. There are also some minor differences in climate control function.

I haven't heard that Gen4 changes this.

Similarly, there is no 'should' on EV, the car takes care of it for you. There may be times you want to use it, for short distance, noise control, to move around a parking lot without triggering an engine warmup cycle, etc. But again, these are based on your wants, not any shoulds.

 

Oh yes, I missed EV. Trying to force EV can be counterproductive. Yes, if you know that you can regenerate down the next hill, use up some hybrid battery by hyper-mileing. But it's frustrating if it gets to a long red light and you've got the battery down low and the engine fires and runs to charge the battery.

This is worth reading:
Tony Schaefer on Hypermiling » What Drives Us

 

For PWR and ECO, leave it in normal mode unless you have difficulty controlling your right foot, it just changes the rate at which the pedal needs to be pressed to get a given amount of gas. ECO means you have to press the pedal more initially, PWR less and both modes give the same amount of gas at full pedal anyway.
EV mode is just useful for when you want to start the car but don't want the ICE to fire up, like moving it up or down your driveway or entering a destination into the Nav for example. The car will prevent you using EV if it thinks it's not good for it, like during the warm up cycle.

 

Agree with Kithmo. Unless you have a lead left foot, just leave it in Normal (with AC in Eco).

You’re not smarter than the car.

 

Exactly what I have done from day 1