I was traveling down a mountain while on vacation last week and something strange happened. After more or less regenerating downhill for about a mile while watching the battery indicator charge up I decided to shift to "B" mode to let the engine take some of the braking. After another mile or so I shifted back into Drive and started regenerating again and finally the battery bars peaked out. I realized the battery was at least 80% (100% full indicator) when the road leveled out and started to drive UPHILL towards a stoplight for about another mile. The strange thing that happened was when I accelerated (not coasting) uphill it was on battery power ONLY all the way to 30 mph before I had to stop at the light. I had expected it to turn on the ice accelerating above 25 mph but it just kept on going like it was in EV mode. I'm curious as to how fast and far it would have gone electrically (in Drive) had I not stopped at the light. I wonder if the ECM decided it would over ride the limit and not turn on the ICE until the battery charge was reduced to a more normal depleted state. Of course after the stop and go at the light it turned on the ICE at 25 mph. It sure was nice to get a small taste of EV mode accelerating above 25 mph for a change even though it may not have been good for the HV battery.
Potentially you could go up to 46mph in electric only (I have only been able downhill). I have gone up to 36mpg on flat with fully charged battery (all bars).
Once the engine has warmed up fully, you will be able to reach up to speeds of 46 mph solely on EV power. Just keep the HSI bar on the left side of ECO and you will drive on EV.
Actually it's higher than that. The ICE will be spun electrically with no fuel injected to ensure MG1 doesn't over-rev. but you -can- go much faster than 46 MPH on electric only. It's called "warp stealth". In the case you have described, the system was trying to dump energy from the battery to give you "room to regen". I've seen it several times driving in the mountains. In that state, "warp stealth" is actually easy to attain. With a "normal" battery charge state it's quite difficult. I've seen it at 90 km/hr (about 57 MPH) but due to local constabulary presence had to slow to 85 km/hr (just over 50 MPH). Brake action in that case were actually -brakes-, not regen. And the funniest thing I've ever seen Pearl do is, while descending a mountain pass in "B", press the accelerator pedal and hear the engine -decrease- in RPM.
It's been increased from 40 mph for the Gen II. As long as you have full batteries it will preferentially pull power from there instead of the gas engine, so that there's room for the next regen cycle. If you accelerate hard enough, it will of course kick in the ICE as well. I don't think it was a matter of battery power, it sounds like it was a matter of distance before that light you had to stop at. Warp stealth will turn the engine but not use gasoline. On the standard screens for Gen II you can't really see this, you need a scangauge to know this stage, I'm not sure how it works on the Gen III.
I've managed about 50 mph in this manner but the HV battery level quickly drops and the car then acts and reacts as normal. You can use about 3/4 of the hybrid indicator level before the engine kicks in which is a little higher than normal. It's almost like having a proper electric car for a mile or two.
The ScanGauge is quite informative. Seeing the 0 RPM is something not available by any other means. This is my favorite photo... taken while driving a plug-in model, obviously: .
I've been wanting one of those for a while now, but was hoping someone would make a larger LCD screen with color. Maybe even upgrade the ScanGuage especially for the Gen III. Its on my wishlist.
I drive thru a small town, 1 mile long, on the way to work. The speed limit is 35. I get the car going about 40 then hit the cruise control with the engine running. I then hit it down 1 MPH and it will coast, the gas engine will shut off then it will keep 39 with the electric motor all thru town. I call it "golf carting".
My 2011 on slight to steep downhills will have no problem maintaining 65+mph speeds on the left side of the HSI bar. In fact, if its steep enough, it will maintain 65+ and be in the CHG side of the HSI.
The fastest EV speed I've driven was 76mph. I didn't have my camera ready that time but I managed to snap this on another trip. This was after coming down a hill and flatten out. I switched over to dumb cruise and set the speed at 68mph
I was once able to get up to about 40 mph from 0 as a traffic jam eased up on the interstate without getting on the right side of the HSI or hearing the ICE go on. But I have never been able to do that to 46. Has anyone? About the rarity of warp-stealth: What happens when I am going, say 70 mph and take my foot off the accelerator and glide? I thought that in general no gas went to the ICE, but it kept turning so MG1 would not over-spin. Am I wrong?
my 2010 Prius can do 40 mph on flat or slightly uphill road until battery hit less than 3 bars in normal mode. I've seen people maintained 75 mph in pure battery mode on flat highway for one mile after downhill part of that highway, but I guess that's irrelevant since it was gravity's work. with these said, I wouldn't be surprised that you can drive and maintain at any speed with electric only.
