The Description in the Owners Manual (Page 193-194) isn't exactly lucid in explaining what this indicator is indicating. "Hybrid Eco area: Shows that gasoline engine power is not being used very often." "Eco area: Shows that the vehicle is being driven in an environmentally friendly (fuel efficient) manner." "Power area: Shows that an environmentally friendly driving range is being exceeded (during full power driving etc.)" What exactly is going on with the ICE and the motors in each of these areas? Can we get technical about this here? Thanks. Aloke Prasad
"Hybrid Eco"-This means very low RPM--I don't have hard numbers for you, but I'd suspect in the 1300RPM or lower OR ICE off, battery only driving. "ECO"-ICE running, but within an efficient RPM range. Again, I don't have hard numbers, but would suspect b/w 1300-1700RPM. "Power"->1800RPM (est.) Someone with a Scan Gauge can probably give you some more specific numbers.
The only real answer is 'it depends' 'hybrid eco' will try to use battery only if possible. If the batteries are low then the ic will run exclusively to charge the batteries. If the speed is over 41mph then the ic has to be running but it'll be at minimum throttle. 'eco' will have the ic running but at a low throttle setting with the power split between charging and traction 'power' will have the engine running almost like a conventional car with lots of revs.
The best article ever! Most useful practical advice for owners of 2010 Prius. Can this be made a sticky? or the article added to the PriusChat main pages (with the author's permission)?
