What I hate about the Prius

Regarding Regen, the brakes are applied so it slowly charges the battery. To prevent this, you slightly press the accelerator again like it says in the manual (refered to as coasting).

 

#1) I was unaware of this. I though the EV button would allow a short move, but I'll leave this for other Gen III owners to answer.

#2) Toyota did this to make the car drive like a "normal" car. Applying a small amount of regen in this situation simulates engine drag in a normal car. Likewise automatic creep is simulated when you take your foot off of the brakes at a stop. Neither is necessary, but both make the Prius feel more like a normal car.

Tom

 

1. I have Gen II and have not installed an EV switch, If I don't want the ICE to come on I use N instead of Park. this avoids the sudden stop if you hit Park while still rolling.

2. I agree on this one. I wish they had included a switch or a programmable setting to select if regen is active during coasting or not.

 

According to Ken only if the coolant temp is over 78F will the EV mode be allowed on a cold engine.

 

Re: #1 - The problem is that you are assuming the Prius is designed to give you the highest fuel economy possible. It is not. It is designed to produce the lowest emissions possible. Therefore, it fires up the engine to get the catalytic converter warmed up to operating temperature as soon as possible. The car cannot read your mind to determine if you are driving 50 ft or 500 miles once you select Ready mode.

 

Will this be added for the 2011 model?

Tom

 

I really hate the fact the my car refuses to drive itself. All the stop, go, turn...stop, go, turn... stop, go, turn. When will toyota learn I don't want to have to drive myself? The should have come up with a solution to this problem by now.

 

Just curious if Regen actually includes the brakes or if its just electric motor#2 that provides the slight drag/braking? Both?

 

It's not a normal car, but it is sold to normal drivers. For both marketing and legal reasons, Toyota felt is was necessary to simulate the driving characteristics of a normal car.

Tom

 

I don't hate my Prius at all, but here are things
that I don't like about my 2009 (does not count
features that I wish Prii would have):

1. The inside door handles are a tad short. Mine
frequently slips through my hand as I pull on it.
2. The steering wheel feels chintzy/plastic-y. I'm
fixing this by getting leather Wheelskins.
3. The audio is not modular, such that you can
easily swap in other Toyota head units.
4. The bladder ('nuf said).
5. The audio volume dial has too small of a diameter,
which makes it hard to grasp, and it does not do
dual function of volume and power.

--

I'm not going to add the OEM GY tires and the 12v
battery, in that sure I would like better quality
for those two components, but the OEM items
do work adequately.

 

The slight drag is all regen.

Tom

 

Some "normal" vehicles (mine) have essentially a free-wheeling (coasting) overdrive, to simulate what the Prius should offer.

It is very difficult for me to keep the Prius in a true coasting (no power, no regen) mode.

 

Yes, it is part of the new clairvoyant package for the Prius VI. It will also stop the car if you floor the accel pedal when you meant to stomp the brake. :madgrin:

 

Until Grandma gets behind the wheel to head down to the bingo hall. 10 mile trip takes 1 hour. :madgrin:

Seriously, it is probably a combination of meeting EPA requirements and making the programming as simple as possible. They want to guarantee the lowest emissions, and part of that is having the catalyst ready to convert HC, CO and NOx.

 

If you press EV within a couple of seconds of pressing Power, then the engine will not start regardless of coolant temp (at least above freezing temps). You might have a very low speed limit before kicking out of EV though (10 mph?). I use this all the time because I have a stoplight 50ft from my garage.

About the other point(s), I also wish I could disable (with a physical switch somewhere) both the default regen when coasting and the creeping mode. I defeat the first by either switching to N (below 70 km/h) or pressing lightly the accelerator, and the second by switching to N when I don't want to the car to creep.
You need to make sure that the engine is not running when switching to N (otherwise you're wasting gas) and you need to switch back to D before braking (otherwise you're wasting brake pads).
(I know, call me crazy )