Battery fully charged for 1st time...only showing 19.4 miles of range?

EV range is an estimate based on previous drives. In your case, you have no EV driving history, so it is perfectly normal to have a smaller number. It will gradually increase as long as you are conservative on pedal press while you drive on EV mode. As for the message you are seeing, I think it is the normal message showing when you don't have any scheduled charge. I am sure you can just ignore it until the next charge event. I thought the message is a temporary flash when you turn off the car.

 

You are very welcome. Yes, the EV range on the dash is so-called Guess-O-Meter or GOM. It changes as you drive more EV mode. If you drive efficiently it will increase, but if you drive lead-footed, it may not change much. But, yes, 19.4 miles is probably as low as it will ever show. Also, as commented by @Tideland Prius the EV range is reduced during cold weather, you will see a seasonal reduction in EV range both actual and displayed during winter months.

Oh, one thing. You may want to change your profile to reflect your new PP. It is still showing you are driving a 2008 PriusTwo. Enjoy your new PP. I hope you get the issue of the Softex damage solved in your favor.

 

This is a long post, I know, but please bear with me for some historical EV-range impressions from a long-time owner:

There are two separate questions here:
— What actual EV range do you get, and
— What EV-range estimate does it give you?

My 2017 P.Prime’s actual EV range — not just the guestimatron’s estimate — has been more variable for me than average. Many people here have reported very little range variation that cannot be accounted for by outdoor temperature, climate-control usage, and the fuel-efficiency of your driving.

Most people see more consistency in the actual EV range, and more variability in their ‘Prime’s estimate thereof. For me it’s been the opposite: I have seen a lot more variation in the actual range, in part based upon my ~19-mile commute to work. It started showing 34ish miles of range; when I left home and landed at work showing 11-12ish miles left, so its actual range was around 30-32, estimating 34.

Then, about 8 months after I bought it, it dropped in three distinct steps over the course of about a month down to 25ish miles, IIRC 30, then 28, then 25. Each time, GoM (“guess-o-meter”) was fairly consistently between dead-on and ~10% high.

All this time, very little changed in external temperature or my driving habits. Winter temperatures here in Austin TX (other than this past February!) don’t get very cold. What did change was my charging habits: shortly before this drop, I’d developed a habit of charging it up at a quasi-free charging station at the local mall the night before. That, rather than timer-charging it in the morning (well, I was still timer-charging it, but it came back from the mall pretty nearly full).

About 9ish months later, it went back up to where its been holding up until the Pandemic hit: around 28 miles, verified fairly close by the odometer.

However, about a month after the Pandemic hit, and I stopped commuting to work, the estimate dropped briefly to ~19 miles. I checked that against the odometer and it was pretty much dead-on exact (within a few tenths of a mile). After a couple months, it went back up again.

From my experience, its varying its charging margin (how much charge it reserves at the “full” end of the battery, for the purpose of reducing fatigue on the battery. It “fears” for battery longevity and increases that margin, then mellows out and raises it. People here who have been monitoring their battery voltages exactly using (Android-only) OBDII-monitoring software have found very little variation in the battery voltage at which it stops charging, suggesting that does not vary its charging margins.

A few here have reported similar changes in actual range under pretty-much-unchanging driving conditions, but most have found their actual range to be depend fairly predictably based upon external temperature and climate-control usage, while the guesstimatron estimates have varied considerably. Again, it’s been the opposite for me.

 

Interestingly since I purchased my 21 prime it really doesn’t go much over 20 miles on a full charge. Warmer weather does help it improve from a winter 18 miles to today at 71 degrees 20.9 miles. The car was purchased in mid January and was down most of February while I had Covid. I will be switching from snow tires this weekend to factory tires so hopefully I will see a increase. My commute is 70 miles with 50 on the interstate.

 

All normal, the range estimate is the worst-case scenario, and it'll be adjusted according to your driving history. Yes, you can ignore the "charge immediately" message. The correct time to charge is just before EV driving for the longest battery cycle life.

 

Yes, of course. I do it all the time. I always start on EV and drive until I pass the first red traffic light and then turn on HV. This greatly improves the fuel economy because cold-engine idling is the biggest waste of fuel in Prius Prime. However, drive very gently when you first turn on HV with a cold engine until the engine warms up. Never race a cold engine.

 

I think you meant that the other way around, right? If you have a charge scheduled, this message pops up and if you push the "Yes" button, it will override the schedule and charge as soon as you plug in. I do this several times a week because I make lots of trips outside my regular commuting schedule.

If you're driving on the Interstate in EV mode, don't expect much EV range. Just like high speeds use more gas per mile, they also use more electricity per mile.

It won't affect range ... for now. But it will accelerate wear and tear on the traction battery if you frequently leave it fully charged (actually, as fully charged as Toyota allows) for days on end. There are two basic advantages to the scheduler. One is if you have time of use billing from the electric company. The other is so that you can plug it in when you get out and have it charge just before you leave next time, assuming your driving has a regular pattern.

 

Hard acceleration isn't as bad for range as hard braking. Every hard brake from 45-50 throws away almost half a mile of range, sometimes more.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, you're in a pretty hilly area. Depending on technique, hill can actually help a little but they can also hurt quite a bit.

 

Oh, you may be right. I haven't charged PP for a while. You know I am "carless" right now. I ignored the message when I was charging daily on schedule, but with a scheduler on, I thought it would display what the next scheduled charge is. Without a scheduler, I thought it displayed Charge Now notice, that is "Next charge event: plug immediately on plug in" as described by OP. But as I said, I may be wrong.