EV Range Estimate Capped at 50.0

It depends. Probably on how new the car is I'd think.
The newer the car is the less miles the computer has to evaluate. (I'm not sure how many previous miles the computer uses to calculate it Estimate)
Using real world EV estimate and range, lets say the car has 10k miles on the odometer and the EV estimate is 35 mile. Than you drive 40 miles EV and recharge. The GOM might go up to 38 but more likely will only rise a mile or two from the previous days 35 mile estimate. Even if the EV drive beats the estimated EV range by 10 miles the new estimate doesn't usually change upwards anywhere near the amount of miles driven over the estimated EV range, at least in my experiences so far ..

Or the top of Donner Pass on I-80

It would be really amazing if the prime ever beats the GOMs 50 mile EV estimate..

 

Yeah, that seems to be the case. Plus, the car seems to make the estimated EV range not only based on a real EV range but also other factors, such as temperature and HV drive use. Artificially increasing EV efficiency of miles/kWh by driving EV on downhill only seems to do nothing to increase the GOM range. That makes the OP's posted GOM 50 miles (in reality more than 50 miles as OP claims) so amazing. I consider the accomplishment to be the same level of difficulty as getting into 1,000 miles club on gen 2 Prius. That is getting over 1,000 miles from a single tank, roughly equal to 100mpg. I was mesmerized when I first saw that accomplishment by a few members here and other hypermilers sites, but quickly realized that I did not have the talent to join the club.

 

Getting 1000 miles/tank on a Prius Gen 2 requires an exceptionally high BTQ, Boredom Tolerance Quotient! A high BTQ is mandatory for the silly stunts I pursue, like a TOP Eco score, har, har!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Well, I don't pursue the high eco score, but now with my PRIME I can easily join the 1000 miles/tank club with the help of EV. NO high BTQ required. Just plug-in and drive it! That satisfies me. Still, I want to know how OP got GOM 50 miles.

 

Collusion?!

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AChoiredTaste.com

 

Experienced Prime driver in a new Prime at the right location?
At very least we now know where the GOM pegs. Thanks PiP

It's very similar to seeing how far the Prime with go in ludicrous mode..

 

Fun thread.

I'm with parent on this one. I haven't seen 50 but by mid summer I typically see low to mid 40s (Wisconsin).

My daily kwh numbers are sometimes wildly inflated based on the following practice.

1) I'm on a trip that is long enough to necessitate HV. If I can cover the whole trip in EV none of these games apply.

2) I'll need to stop for a stop sign from highway speeds. If I brake well (regen) I will add enough juice into the battery such that the car will stay in ev mode for longer than it would have had you not successfully pulled off a regen upon next acceleration. A good example of this is if I come down a large hill (hundreds of feet altitude) on a two lane highway and then immediately hit a stop sign.

I personally don't like the behavior of #2, and I've found you can cancel it out in two ways

1) Before I hit the brakes in a situation like #2 above I flip from HV to EV. I flip back to HV when I accelerate.
2) Before I hit the accelerator after stopping in a situation like #2, I quickly (press, press) to flip from HV -> EV -> HV

Either method cancels out what I'll call the mis-use of regen Wh to accelerate on the highway. I think both methods inflate the daily kwh because the car is in EV but charging when stopping/going downhill.

Why do I do this? Like parent says it helps me stay in EV mode for longer periods of time at low speeds. I'm making an educated guess it is more efficient than letting the car decide but haven't tracked it like the parent. I could let the car burn those regen'd Wh as I accelerate back to 60MPH or I could let the engine do that; it's good at those higher load situations. I save those regen'd Wh for when I'm going through a small town and need to scoot along at 30mph for a few minutes.

-Michael

 

Yap, the key factor favoring your strategy is the routine distance you drive. 80 miles round trip commute with one charge is perfect for mixing HV and EV to maximize the final mpg for your driving habits. My routine 40 miles commute in a single charge is too short and there are too many uphills that kill battery charge. During summer, if I do nothing but just drive on EV mode, I can do almost all of my round trip commuting on EV mode with ~35 miles range resulting in 199.9mpg. Any attempt to switch to HV in a middle for just a few miles will decrease mpg down below 199.9mpg. However, for me, decrease in mpg is not too big of a deal since in my region gas is cheaper than electricity. I am planning to try EV/HV switching during winter months. It will be interesting to see what kind of mpg I will get in winter if I mix HV/EV on my regular 40 miles commuting when my natural EV range decrease to ~20miles in winter. That situation is similar to your 80 miles commute.

 

After trying whole summer with manual EV/HV switching to increase miles/kWh on my daily drives, I have no doubt you are accomplishing higher EV range and better mpg for your routine ~80 miles drive. What is your Drive Monitor 2 number for average miles/kWh for the odometer? With GOM showing 50 miles, it must be around 9miles/kWh.

 

That is simply amazing. If you have a chance, please post your record of DM2 on this thread: What is your miles/kWh (total average electricity consumption) on the "Drive Monitor 2" | PriusChat
You have the highest number reported so far.

BTW, the charge from the wall is not the amount of energy actually used for EV drive. With some loss in conversion, it is more like 5.4-5.6kWh total used for a full EV range. So, your average is ~46 miles per charge.

 

Yap, that seems to be the case. I have checked SOC level using Hybrid Assistant to confirm this. Some estimate this to be even lower at 5.2kWh while some think it is around 6.0kWh depending on what data they use, but I believe the number is somewhere around 5.5 kWh.

EDIT: Most likely the 15% of the wall charge is not all lost in the conversion. I think some of battery SOC is used for other functions in the car just not for the traction. DM2's miles/kWh seems to be indicating energy used only for the traction.

 

I think the loss is in MG's to wheels, not from charger.to pack.
Something close to 8.8 to 6.6 to 5.5 at the wheels.
Electric motors are way more efficient than ICE but they are not prefect
not yet anyway.