We've been having some unusually snowy and cold weather here in England and I've found that using EV mode will allow the prius to crawl slowly up an icy incline, when in normal mode the wheels spin and the VSC kicks in. The nicest one was on friday, on a sloping car park where the snow had melted and refrozen during the day, in EV mode I was able climb slowly and silently up the slope and out, passing 2 BMWs and a ford mondeo spinning thier wheels and slithering from side to side. I assume that the explanation is that EV delivers much less torque to the front wheels. ( Oh, and I know that our cold and snowy weather is nothing compared to much of the rest of the civilised world, but we just aren't geared up for it )
I would never have thought of EV mode. I guess it's being able to deliver precisely just the right amount of torque, no ICE engine vibration or having to balance the power from the ICE and electric motor? BTW what tyres do you have and how much mileage have they done?
Hi UK new Snow Drivers..., RWD BMWs are about as bad as Mustangs in the snow and icey road conditions. Mustangs being the acknowledged worse. The electric motor has more torque than many engines. But a cold battery does not have nearly the power it does when its warm, and with the engine off, its the only power in the car. So, it does make it more controlable. I find the bigger issue is the soft pedal feel of the Prius. There is no linkage feeling coming through the pedal, and it does not take much to push it. In snow boots it can be difficult to judge how hard one is pressing the accelerator pedal. So, judge things by the car motion, visual feedback only. There have been times I could not feel the pedal through boots, but knew I was pressing it as the car was maintaining speed and directional control was still there. If there had not been torque on the front wheels, there would not have been directional control in the conditions I was in. As to the Aussie (and usually LA) commenter about snow - I ll take snow anyday over fire storms and mudslides...
