I do two 10-mile trips each school day; is there a way to ensure that my new PIP (coming in February or March, so thy say) will run in EV-only mode? Or does it stay in EV mode if I drive calmly for less that the EV range? So many questions... I can't wait to get my new Prius. Bob
It boots/starts in EV mode and will stay in that for as long as it has charge or unless you thrash it or run the heater, then it reverts to HV (hybrid vehicle) mode. There is an HV button and an EV button so you can switch out of EV if you want and can try to force it back into EV once it's gone to HV.
Evan about summed it up. The car will default to EV mode. It will stay in that unless you selectively place it in HV mode or force it into HV mode by pushing the throttle too hard or running the heat.
The European version does have an EV-city button which forces it to stay in EV, the American won't, but as long as you take it easy and there isn't a significant need for the heater you should be ok.
Yes, I will, since I have a home office; this means I should be able to make my 2 round-trips to my son's school, without sipping gas--unless I have to switch on heat. Another question: what about A/C? Will that cause the ICE to kick in? I'm thinking that it will since it uses electricity, or does it use less than I'm thinking? I've decided not to get a 240v charger; in retrospect, it seems like overkill for a vehicle that will only take 3 hours to charge using 120v. Bob
It will reduce the range, but not automatically kick on the ICE. I test drove the PIP and tested out the change in mileage with the AC turned on and it only reduced the mileage by about 1-2 miles in pure EV. (This also was their prototype model so YMMV literally)
but doesn't the pip have to warm up first, so when i pull out of my driveway, its like the current prius where you will be leaving your driveway with the ice on for at least 4 minutes or so, right?
The early model PHV that I drove didn't. That was August. But pulling out of the garage first thing in the morning was still a genuine firsthand experience where I witnessed no engine startup. Of course, that makes for a rather uneventful consumption screen... .
Yeah, the production PiP will default to EV mode so it will not force the engine to start unless you push it into HV mode, request heat on a cold day etc.
Won't take mean higher emission output when the driver demands heavy acceleration or high speed it the engine hasn't had its warm up cycle?
I don't see it as any different than if you start a regular Prius and quickly demand heavy acceleration or high speed. Also, if there is a minute emission hit at the beginning of the warm up cycle it would be offset by the EV driving in which there is none. I also think I remember reading or seeing a graph somewhere on here that showed the PiP had something like a 20 second faster warm up cycle than a regular Prius as well.
